Power Rankings: Barracuda Championship

The fifth and final Additional Event of the season has arrived, and it gives its entrants a healthy and distant distraction. After all, they didn’t qualify for The Open Championship.

The Barracuda Championship is eight hours to the west of Royal Troon, 6,000 feet above the level of the sea beside which the last major of the year is contested, and it presents a measurement of performance that rewards the highest positive scores. In short, it’s nothing like the other.

Below is an explanation of the format, how Old Greenwood at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, California, sets up, and more.

Others to consider

• Chez Reavie … It’s rare when the 42-year-old deserves attention in advance, but this is one of those moments. After a second-round 62 at Keene Trace last week, he held on for a piece of 10th place. It’s his first top-10 in a little over a year. He tends to be streaky, so expectations are elevated this week because he hasn’t missed a cut in six starts at the Barracuda, including all three at Old Greenwood. Of course, the highlight was a victory in 2022.
• Joel Dahmen … No one lands approaches closer to the hole than he does, and he’s ninth on TOUR in greens in regulation. His tee-to-green game overall is fantastic, so he needs the putter to cooperate. It has at times this year, enough to have him floating at 108th in the FedExCup, and he just recently connected eight paydays, so there’s been momentum. The timing of Old Greenwood is the X-factor, however. In two trips, he’s gone for a T7 (2021) and a T10 (2023).
• Martin Laird … A Power Rankings for the Barracuda wouldn’t be complete without the Scot no matter his form upon arrival. (It hasn’t been inspiring.) He was a fixture atop leaderboards during all six of his appearances at Montrêux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nevada, but the mojo crossed the border to Old Greenwood where he was third in 2022 and T20 last year.

There’s something to be said for the conviction of the Barracuda’s position in the lineup. Since its inaugural edition in 1999, it’s been an Additional Event, but it’s unique in that it’s the only official PGA TOUR stop that uses Modified Stableford scoring. This is the 13th consecutive staging since it replaced traditional stroke play.

Old Greenwood is in its fifth straight year as the host and third in a row opposite The Open. It’s a par 71 that can stretch to 7,480 yards, but caddies and players alike will be trimming distances to targets from the tee and on approach to factor in the altitude. With spots for at least 50 DP World Tour members who already might be converting yards to meters, their math skills must be sharp throughout.

As part of the PGA TOUR and DP World Tour’s Strategic Alliance, the fields for the Barracuda Championship (and last week’s ISCO Championship) include the top 50 available players from the DP World Tour priority ranking. The tournaments are not co-sanctioned but rather PGA TOUR events that allow access to DP World Tour members.

If any PGA TOUR non-member prevails, his option to accept PGA TOUR membership in the winners category will extend just one season through 2025. Non-members also are ineligible for a top-10 exemption into next week’s 3M Open. Those restrictions do not apply to PGA TOUR members for whom membership status would extend to 2026 and top 10s pay forward into the 3M.

ShotLink is not utilized at Old Greenwood in part because the Barracuda is an Additional Event but also because golfers can pick up their balls if not holed for, at worst, double bogeys. Targeting 11 points per round is a sound plan to consider taking the title. Winners at Old Greenwood have ranged from Richy Werenski’s 39 points in 2020 to Erik van Rooyen’s 50 in 2021. Coincidentally, both former champions withdrew from the tournament early this week.

For its length, Old Greenwood’s combination of bentgrass and Poa annua greens are smaller than average at 5,300 square feet, but they’re governed to 11 1/2 feet on the Stimpmeter. Primary rough on the course remains 2 1/2 inches tall.

While weather is a perennial headliner at The Open, it’s also the opposite at Old Greenwood. Primarily sunny skies will allow daytime heating to reach the upper 80s if not 90 degrees for every round. Discussion about wind also will be limited to the major.

ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE

MONDAY: Power Rankings (Open)
TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Barracuda); Sleepers (Open)
WEDNESDAY: Golfbet Insider
SUNDAY: Points and Payouts (Open); Points and Payouts (Barracuda); Medical Extensions; Qualifiers; Reshuffle

*Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.