BlogBarracuda Preview and Picks

The Buzz:

For many years many wondered on the viability of this event.  No top players in the field, an event that takes second stage over the Bridgestone.  In a way it’s a shame.  This was Finchem’s grand idea to keep the bottom-feeders off his back about limited field event.  Unfortunely it’s been a struggle, this event has always had sponsor problems and over the years the tour has sunk some cash to keep it alive.  But that is all over as the folks that ran this event found California base Barracuda Networks to sponsor the event through 2017.  This is a great thing for this event.

One of the reasons this event was kept alive was the love the players had for it.  The weather is great, the course is great with players raving about it. Now in it’s 17th year, the field for this year’s Barracuda is good and  we will have this event for a while.  It’s amazing when you have players like Padraig Harrington want to play in this event instead of going to Bridgestone.

Making this event very different is going to the Modified Stableford system which is a change of pace for a PGA Tour event.  With this change it’s gotten many more excited than a dozen other events that have big time sponsorship but struggle to get a good field.  I feel that more casual golf fans will tune in because it is totally different and fun to watch.

Here are some of the secrets of what it takes to play well at the Barracuda Championship:

Key stat for the winner:

Aggressive play, that’s the name of the game this week at the Barracuda Championship.  This will be the 4th year that the Barracuda (sounds strange, doesn’t it) has gone over to this scoring system making it one of the most distinctive events on the PGA Tour.  Along with the Accenture Match play, the two are the only tournaments on tour that aren’t stroke play events.  The modified version of the Stableford method is one that makes for a lot of excitement as points are awarded for low scoring and points taken away for poor scoring.  Nothing is given for par, with 2 points given for a birde, 5 points given for a eagle and for the rare double-eagle, 8 points.  For those that make a bogey they have to subtract 1 point and for a double bogey or worst 3 points are deducted.  So instead of the lowest number of strokes winning the tournament like the rest of the tour stops, the player making the most points wins.

Here are some more key stats to look to for this week:

• Putting is always a key, you can’t make a lot of birdies without some decent putting.
• Patience is a virtue, Weather in August in the high country of Lake Tahoe and Reno can be very unstable especially in the afternoon.  Thunder is to be expected and comes more time than the tournament would like.
• Judgement of yardage is key, in a way it’s always a challenge to hit the right club.  A 200 yard shot to the ninth green at Montreux is a bit of an adventure compared to a 200 yard shot at Torrey Pines.  With the attitude being so high a 200 yard shot could be an 8-iron at Montreux while the same shot at Torrey Pines could be a six or five iron.
• Pick your holes to gamble on, there are several holes were par is the score you should look for and if a player tries to force the issue it could lead very easily to a double bogey.
• Never give up, you never know when a holed fairway shot could lead to an birdie and 2 points.  A player could be ten points down with nine holes left to play and can make up the difference very quickly.
• The winner will be the player that hit’s it a ton, makes lot’s of eagles and birdies and finds a way to not make worst than a double on any hole.
• Interesting to look at the winners of the International, a tournament that was played between 1986 and 2006 and used the same Stableford system.  Some of the marquee names of winners of the International were Phil Mickelson (twice), Greg Norman, David Toms, Jose Maria Olazabal, Brad Faxon, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els and Davis Love III (twice).
• One last thing is the weather.  For weeks now this area has seen high temperatures and very little rain, so look for a fast golf course.  As for the weather, each day is suppose to be good with only one possible bad day on Friday.  So look for a bomber to dominate this week.