Top 30 Players to Watch in 2019: No. 19 Paul Casey

RENO, Nevada — News and notes from Friday’s second round of the Barracuda Championship, with Richy Werenski leading Stuart Appleby by 2 points in the Modified Stableford event. LATE LEAD CHANGE Richy Werenski, in his first year on the PGA TOUR, made an eagle on No. 18 for 5 points to vault into the Barraduca Championship lead. After a 1 hour, 17 minute weather delay, Werenski went back on the course to complete his late run. He made three birdies and an eagle over his final six holes Friday. It was getting dark as Werenski eyed his 6-foot, 3-inch putt for a closing eagle. This is the first time he’s held a 36-hole lead on the PGA TOUR. Werenski went through a string of five missed cuts earlier this season, but he has found his groove recently. He said the plan was to be aggressive and go for eagles at Montreux. “Everybody knows eagles are huge out here this week,â€� he said. “I’m starting to feel comfortable out here.â€� This is his first time to visit Northern Nevada. The cut was at 10 points. AWESOME AUSSIE A year after Australian Greg Chalmers picked up his first win on the PGA TOUR, another Aussie is in contention at the Barracuda Championship. Stuart Appleby picked up 10 points Friday in the second round, to go with his 14 from Thursday for a two-day total of 24. Appleby, who has nine victories on the PGA TOUR, but none since 2010, had not made a cut at Montreux in his two most recent trips (2014 and 2016), but he did make it to the weekend three times before that. He said there are no courses comparable to Montreux in Australia. He had an Australian term for the course, calling it a “hard yakka,â€� which means hard work. “I’m starting to make some birdies and I’m rolling it nice. I’m reading it nice,â€� Appleby said. “I’ve just got to see if I can keep the ball in the middle of the clubface and grab the right clubs often enough and see if I can grab 20 points or something over the weekend.â€� He suffered a back injury in 2015, but said it is getting better now. His T25 showing at last month’s John Deere Classic ended a streak of nine consecutive missed cuts. “That’s the thing I’ve found hard is being able to repeat; a couple of good shots or a couple of good holes and then I throw in an awful shot, so that kind of knocks a lot of wind out of your sails,â€� Appleby said. “You make cuts, you feel like you’re developing, you feel like you participated in a golf event and you’ve got something you can build on, and I really hadn’t done that. So John Deere was nice.â€� In 2010, during the final round of the inaugural Greenbrier Classic, Appleby became the fifth player in history to shoot a 59 in an official PGA TOUR event. Appleby won the 2010 PGA TOUR Comeback Player of the Year award. CONTENDERS ENJOYING THE FORMAT Greg Owen is tied for third place with 23 points with Luke List, Dicky Pride and Ben Martin. Owen hit 13 of 14 fairways Friday. He said the mountain course at Montreux can be a little tricky, although this is his fifth time playing there. “The only dropped shots I’ve had really have been three-putts because it’s difficult with us being on the side of a mountain, it’s very deceiving with your eyes whether you’re uphill, downhill. The speeds are very difficult to judge,â€� Owen said. He finished 20th last year, making an eagle on his last hole Friday to make the cut. List enjoys the Modified Stableford scoring, which encourages aggressive play. “I’m going to try to play aggressive the whole way through, hit a lot of drivers where a lot of guys are hitting irons, and I’m just going to try to take advantage of my length on a few holes, and for me it’s tough doing some of the numbers with the math and everything with the elevation, but just trying to do the best I can with that, stay patient, and just try to be aggressive on the weekend,â€� List said. WI BELIEVE Former Nevada golfer Charlie Wi had a solid second round, scoring 8 points and making the cut with 16 total. He is semi-retired from the PGA TOUR now, and said that has helped him relax on the course. I’ve had good finishes here, but for some reason, this course is really tricky for me,â€� Wi said. “I was pressing before I made some dumb mistakes. I feel less pressure on myself.â€� WEATHER DELAY Play was suspended for 1 hours 17 minutes by lightning in the area. It also rained slightly at Montreux. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday also, about a 40 percent chance predicted to hit the area about 3 p.m. But golfers will start on No. 1, at 7 a.m. local. The final pairing will tee off at 2:40 p.m.  NOTES • Kyle Reifers, who lost in a playoff in the Barracuda to JJ Henry in 2015, and has a sister who lives in Reno, made the cut with 11 points. • Ricky Barnes, who is married to former Nevada volleyball standout Suzanne Stonebarger and lives in Truckee, has 16 points. • Two-time Barracuda champion JJ Henry missed the cut with 9 points. • Davis Love III made the cut with 16 points, while his son Dru improved Friday, but missed the cut with 6 points. • Padraig Harrington missed the cut with 4 points, as did Geoff Ogilvy with 2.  Retief Goosen also finished with 2 points. • Eight players have made the Barracuda Championship their first PGA TOUR victory in the 18-year history of the event: Notah Begay III (1999), Chris Riley (2002), Vaughn Taylor (2004), Will MacKenzie (2006), Parker McLachlin (2008), Matt Bettencourt (2009), Scott Piercy (2011) and Greg Chalmers (2016). BARRACUDA BONUS Three golfers are tied for the most points on hole No. 18 at Montreux with 7 each — Ben Martin, Harris English and Daniel Summerhays. Graham DeLaet has 5 points on No. 18 and 30 golfers are tied with 4 points. Whoever scores the most points on No. 18 this week earns a $50,000 bonus for the charity of his choice. The Barracuda Bonus is a $50,000 charitable donation given in the name of the player who collects the most Modified Stableford points on the par-5 18th hole over the course of the four competitive rounds.

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ANCASTER, Ontario — Rory McIlroy shot a bogey-free 6-under 64 on Saturday to move into a share of the lead after three rounds at the RBC Canadian Open. Seeking his second victory of the season, McIlroy surged into a tie with Webb Simpson (67) and Matt Kuchar (69) at 13-under 197. Adam Hadwin, seeking to become the first Canadian winner of the event since 1954, was one shot back after a 67. Shane Lowry (66) and Brandt Snedeker (69) were also 12 under. McIlroy won THE PLAYERS Championship in March but has not seriously contended since. A victory would be his fifth in a national open, following the U.S. Open (2011), Australian Open (2013), British Open (2014) and Irish Open (2016). His round was tied for the lowest of the day at Hamilton Golf and Country Club with Jonathan Byrd, who was tied for ninth at 8 under. Kuchar, who shared the lead after two rounds, is seeking his career-best third victory of the season.

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Carlos Ortiz (+10000) … He’d like a do-over, thank you. The native of Mexico will forever be forgotten as the 54-hole co-leader of the 2021 Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines because he blew up for a 78 to finish T29 while the other 54-hole co-leader, Patrick Reed, went on to prevail by five (with a closing 68). Despite four previous seasons with a PGA TOUR card, Ortiz really didn’t splash onto the scene until the experience generated his breakthrough victory in Houston last November, so he’s now on the ascent of the learning curve in the majors. The 30-year-old has the power and the precision not to be overwhelmed anywhere, including at Muirfield Village where he placed T16 in his last start. Chan Kim (+40000) … As it concerns American golfers who don’t compete on the PGA TOUR regularly, at T83 in the Official World Golf Ranking, he’s at the front of the pack with avid fan favorites John Catlin (82nd) and Kurt Kitayama (107th). All played collegiately in the United States – Kim at Arizona State University – but only Kim qualified for the 2021 U.S. Open. The 31-year-old was born in South Korea and he’s done the majority of his damage on the Japan Golf Tour where he’s a five-time winner, including once during the 2020-21 season. He’s 0-for-3 in this major but he’s on an international heater with a 2nd-T9-T15-T23 run upon arrival, the finale of that foursome at Kiawah Island. Currently fourth on the JGTO’s Order of Merit, fourth in scoring average, second in both distance and total driving, second in greens in regulation and first in ball-striking. Rikuya Hoshino (+10000) … He was the runner-up to fellow JGTO member Chan Kim at the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in California. That was Hoshino’s backup plan if he didn’t qualify automatically, which is what happened when he missed the cut in his PGA Championship debut at Kiawah Island. Like Kim, the 25-year-old from Japan also has five victories on his home circuit, but with three this season, he’s perched atop the Order of Merit. He ranks third in scoring. He also shares a notable birthday (May 12) among professional golfers with major champions Mike Weir and Jim Furyk, both of whom famously were born in 1970 (as well as two-time European Tour winner and current Sky Sports analyst, Andrew Coltart). Another emerging talent also born on that date was none other than Palmetto Championship at Congaree champion Garrick Higgo, who is three years younger than Hoshino. Guido Migliozzi (+30000) … The lean six-footer from Italy is making his PGA TOUR debut this week. He’s one of the 10 automatic qualifiers via the special three-event series on the European Tour during which he recorded a pair of runner-up finishes. With three silvers on the season, he’s ninth in the Race to Dubai. Just 24 years of age but already twice a winner on his home circuit and thrice a champion on the Alps Tour before that, he’s put it all together this season by ranking 30th in distance off the tee, 13th in greens in regulation and fourth in scoring average. Matthias Schmid (+10000) … It’s been 88 years since Johnny Goodman was the last amateur to win the U.S. Open, so ignore that line for Schmid to win. Rather, pivot to the easier task to make the cut. Since Tiger Woods prevailed at Torrey Pines in the 2008 U.S. Open, at least one amateur has made the cut in every edition. In fact, 34 have survived in the last 13 U.S. Opens combined. (Chambers Bay boasts the most with six in 2015.) Schmid qualified this week as a co-medalist at the Dallas sectional on May 24. The following week, he closed out his collegiate career at the University of Louisville with a T29 in the NCAA Men’s Championship. Then, while riding the wave of opportunities but undoubtedly running on fumes, the 22-year-old returned to his native Germany and missed the cut by a significant portion at the Porsche European Open. He’s the two-time reigning champion of the European Amateur Championship, an annual competition at which, notably, Viktor Hovland was a recent two-time runner-up (2016, 2018). Odds were sourced on Tuesday, June 15 at 5 a.m. ET. For live odds visit betmgm. NOTE: Sleeper is a relative term, so Rob uses unofficial criteria to determine who qualifies. Each of the following usually is determined to be ineligible for this weekly staple: Winners of the tournament on the current host course; winners in the same season; recent major champions; top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking; recent participants of team competitions.

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