With the entire golfing world focused on the events of this week’s Open Championship, it’s easy to forget that there is another US PGA Tour/DP World Tour collaboration taking place: the Barracuda Championship.
2025 US PGA Tour/ DP World Tour
Barracuda Championship
Old Greenwood Course, Table Mountain Club, California
17th-20th July
With the entire golfing world focused on the events of this week’s Open Championship, it’s easy to forget that there is another US PGA Tour/DP World Tour collaboration taking place: the Barracuda Championship. Originally known as the Reno-Tahoe Open, the Barracuda Championship came into existence in 1999 and has always been an opposite-field event (it will be the final opposite-field event of the season). It initially served as the undercard to the now-defunct WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. It underwent a significant shakeup in 2022, as the PGA Tour partnered up with the DP World Tour to co-sanction some of these Open-adjacent events. It basically replaced the Barbasol Championship as the official opposite-field event to the Open Championship. There will be no top 50 players involved this week (which makes the art of prognostication more of a challenge). Just look at last week’s ISCO Championship, where Willaim Mouw came from nowhere to overturn a seven-stroke deficit to win the title. These events provide a real opportunity for guys to pick up some ‘cheap’ FedEx Cup points. There are also quite a few DP World Tour players who have made the trip across the pond to sneak a rascally PGA Tour victory.
This event was long contested at Montreux Golf and Country Club outside Reno, Nevada. It moved to its current location, Tahoe Mountain Club, in 2020. Measuring 7,390 yards, this course has the bones of a Major Championship monster. But that’s extremely misleading as the course is situated at around 6000 feet above sea level, and bombers haven’t really gained much of an edge out there. The Jack Nicklaus design is gorgeous and could double as a travelogue for the High Sierras (if anyone were to watch it). The fairways are lined with pine trees and the undulating greens are deceptively quick, putting an onus on accurate approach play. Three reachable par fives and three drivable par 4’s should yield a low-scoring affair. Right? Wrong, because this the lone PGA Tour event on the calendar that utilizes a Modified Stableford scoring system, where players are awarded points per hole (it takes a few seconds to get used to the graphics). Scoring is as follows: Albatross 8, Eagle 5, Birdie 2, Par 0, Bogey -1, Double Bogey or worse -3. This incentivizes the type of attacking golf that saw Erik Van Rooyen rack up 50 points in 2021 (a score that Nick Dunlap nearly matched last year).
What on earth has happened to Max Homa? The recent Ryder Cupper finished in a tie for 5th last time out in the Quad Cities (his best result of the season). Crazily, that was just his 2nd top 25 finish of the entire campaign! Perhaps this could be his week to remind us why he is a six-time PGA Tour champion. Davis Riley arrives in indifferent form but remains the highest ranked player in the field at 65th. Cameron Champ has also looked dangerous in recent weeks. Emiliano Grillo was always going to struggle last week after the emotional fallout of that playoff defeat at the John Deere Classic. Perhaps he can rediscover his magic on a course that suits his game. Kurt Kitayama enters this week ranked 100th in the OWGR and is fresh off a T5 finish at the John Deere. Nick Dunlap will look to defend his title while the likes of Ewen Ferguson and Bernd Wiesberger (remember him) stand out amongst the European contingent. There are only two weeks left before the FedEx Cup playoffs start and every point counts. Adam Hadwin sits at 129th in the current standings and is a late entrant this week (only the top 125 in the ultimate FedEx Cup standings guarantee their tour card for next season).
Past Winners
2024: Nick Dunlap (+49)
2023: Akshay Bhatia (+40)
2022: Chez Reavie (+43)
2021: Erik van Rooyen (+50)
2020: Richy Werenski (+39)
2019: Collin Morikawa (+47)
Betting Favourites (To Win): Cameron Champ (22/1), Emiliano Grillo (22/1), Kurt Kitayama (22/1), Ryan Gerard (22/1), Pierceson Coody (25/1)
Value Bet
Austin Eckroat- To Win (50/1)
Austin Eckroat enjoyed a stellar 2024 campaign, winning titles at the Cognizant Classic and World Wide Technology Championship. He has struggled to replicate those performances this season but is fresh off a solid T11 finish at the John Deere Classic (where he missed out on a playoff by just three strokes). Players will get massive points for eagles this week and Eckroat currently ranks 17th on tour for eagles.
The Man to Beat- Kurt Kitayama- To Win (22/1)
2023 Arnold Palmer Invitational champ Kurt Kitayama has had his struggles this year but arrives off a solid T5 finish at the John Deere Classic (matching his season-best finish at the CJ Cup). The American hasn’t played here since a missed cut in 2020 (which was the maiden renewal hosted at Table Mountain Club). Kitayama can go low and currently ranks 30th on the PGA Tour for birdie average.
