Barracuda Championship payouts and points: Akshay Bhatia earns $684,000

What better way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Barracuda Championship than with a sudden-death playoff that promised to crown a first-time winner on the PGA TOUR.

With a standard-issue par on the only hole needed to determine the winner – the par-4 18th – Akshay Bhatia defeated Patrick Rodgers on Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course in Truckee, California. The duo completed regulation with 40 points measured by Modified Stableford Scoring, which has been utilized in this tournament since 2012.

It’s the second consecutive week in which a first-time winner has been crowned in a playoff on the PGA TOUR. Vincent Norrman outdueled Nathan Kimsey for victory at the Barbasol Championship last week, also with a par-4 on the only hole required in that playoff – the 18th at Keene Trace Golf Club. As a wise man once said, tournaments like the Barbasol and the Barracuda aren’t as much opposite events as they are opportunity events.

The Barracuda was Bhatia’s 18th start of the season and 35th career as a professional on the PGA TOUR. With that kind of volume of experience despite his youth as a 21-year-old, he had been fulfilling some of the promise that preceded his arrival at this level. When he finished solo second at the Puerto Rico Open in early March, he secured Special Temporary Membership [STM] that eliminated some of the headwinds so that he could soar. Yet, even that week, he was just +2800 to win at BetMGM. For the Barracuda, he was +3500 to prevail.

Rodgers still is just 31 years of age, but with 243 TOUR starts as a pro under his belt, including now an 8-for-8 record across two host tracks for the Barracuda, he was shorter at +3000 to win. Instead, he added a fourth career runner-up finish since splashing as a Special Temporary Member himself during the 2014-15 season.

Prior to Chez Reavie connecting for his third career PGA TOUR title in this tournament last year, there were six consecutive breakthroughs at the Barracuda, so the 41-year-old veteran is the exception. The defending champion matched Rodgers on the board with an opening line of +3000 but settled for a piece of a four-way T55.

The favorites were threefold, each at +2000. Among them, only Stephan Jaeger cashed with a T34. Keith Mitchell and Taylor Pendrith both missed the cut.

DP World Tour members Julien Guerrier (+12500) and Jens Dantorp (+40000) shared bronze.

Norrman (+2800) and Kimsey (+5500) matched 72-hole scores again this week, this time with 31 points for T25s.

NOTE: Payouts and Points includes pre-tournament odds to win at BetMGM for all golfers who made the cut. For live odds, visitBetMGM

The PGA TOUR is committed to protecting our fans. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, the National Council on Problem Gambling operates a confidential toll-free hotline that you can reach by phone or text at 1-800-522-4700.