With most of the golf world in Scotland for The Open Championship this week there is a need for another tournament. Voila, the Barracuda Championship fills the void as an alternate field event. For the first time members of the DP World Tour are invited to play with the expanded 156-player field assembling at Tahoe Mountain Club. This is the only PGA Tour stop featuring the Modified Stableford scoring system, which credits points based on how players perform at each hole. For example, an eagle is worth five points, a birdie is worth two points and no points are awarded for par. Points are deducted for plus-strokes on a hole. Maverick McNealy emerged as the betting favorite with Alex Noren and Cameron Davis next in line as the only players with shorter than 20/1 odds, but it’s really anyone’s game. Visit BookMaker.eu for a complete list of updated betting odds when you’re ready to place a wager.
Odds to Win Barracuda Championship
Maverick McNealy +1100
Alexander Noren +1400
Cameron Davis +1600
Taylor Pendrith +2200
Mark Hubbard +2200
Nick Hardy +2500
Rasmus Hojgaard +2800
Doug Ghim +2800
Martin Laird +2800
Matthias Schwab +2800
Taylor Moore +3300
Greyson Sigg +3300
Andrew Putnam +3300
Vincent Whaley +4000
Chez Reavie +4000
John Huh +4000
Hurly Long +5000
Scott Piercy +6000
Joe Highsmith +6000
Chesson Hadley +6000
Hank Lebioda +6000
Stephan Jaeger +6600
Ryan Moore +6600
Ryan Armour +6600
Matti Schmid +6600
Johannes Veerman +6600
Austin Smotherman +6600
Justin Lower +6600
Michael Gligic +6600
Austin Cook +6600
Doc Redman +6600
Odds Analysis
Maverick McNealy +1100
The long trip back from Scotland has to be a concern for those who played last week, but this is a homecoming of sorts for McNealy, so it probably won’t be as bad for him. I typically don’t back the favorite, but McNealy has a good price and there’s no denying he’s one of the top players in the field. He missed the cut in two straight starts, which is rare for him, but rebounded with a T8 at the Deere Classic and T16 at the Scottish Open. We’ve seen a lot of first time winners here and McNealy is in line to continue the trend.
Andrew Putnam +3300
Putnam’s first and so far only PGA win came in this tournament in 2018, though it was at a different venue. Still, he returned last year and finished as runner-up, five points behind Erik van Rooyen in his first go around the Tahoe property. I’m counting on his tournament and course knowledge playing a factor since his game has been iffy all season. He made the cut in his last three starts and finished T15 at the Schwab a few months ago.
Doc Redman +6600
Redman has scored well on par 3s and par 4s during his career, and that’s something that will help in the Stableford system. He’s also performed well in similar events throughout his career and is coming off a confidence-boosting T21 at the Barbasol Championship last week, snapping a streak of five straight MCs. And of particular note is last year’s winner van Rooyen had longer odds at 70/1.
Matti Schmid +6600
Playing every week can be a grind for veteran players, but a youngster like Schmid is just anxious to play. The rookie of the year on the DP World Tour had a tough start this season but we started to see flashes of the player that closed last season with four top-11s in five starts. Now if he can just finish. He closed with a 74 for a T30 at the Irish Open, his best finish in eight starts. He bettered that last week with a blistering 22-under through three rounds at the Barbasol. Unfortunately a closing 77 dropped him down the leaderboard to T8.
Matthias Schwab +2800
Making the move to the PGA Tour hasn’t been easy, but Schwab has held his own. And this tournament offers up a lot of what he saw when he was toiling on the European Tour. He enjoyed success on the ET and has been good in similar events this season with top-10s in the Honda Classic, Puerto Rico Open and Texas Open. After finishing outside the top-30 with a pair of MCs in his previous seven starts, Schwab earned a T16 last time out at the Deere Classic. He also has a podium finish in his only Barracuda start back in 2020.
Course: Tahoe Mountain Club – 7,480 yards, Par 71
After 21 years at the Montreux Golf and Country Club in Reno, the Barracuda moved to its new digs for the 2020 playing. One thing that hasn’t changed is the elevation. Situated in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Old Greenwood Course at the Tahoe Mountain Club plays at 7,480 yards, about 50 yards longer than last year’s setup. But that’s irrelevant since the altitude allows balls to fly. A number of short par 4s are perfect for the Modified Stableford system giving players a chance to collect points and make up ground. Conversely, the par 3s can be nasty with tricky, rolling greens along with strategically-placed bunkers. And as a reminder, players want to be on the plus side in this scoring system.
TV Coverage: Golf Channel
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