What do Tiger's Chicago ties mean for 2026 Presidents Cup?

For the first time in its 22-year history, the Barracuda Championship has a second home in the land of second homes. Situated about 17 miles west as the bald eagle flies from its aerie at Montrêux Golf & Country Club in Reno, Nevada, about 500 feet higher and across the state line into Truckee, California, Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course debuts as host of the final additional event of the 2019-20 PGA TOUR season. The Jack Nicklaus Signature design opened in 2004. It’s a par 71 with three par 5s and, even more interestingly, as many as three drivable par 4s. That’ll get the juices flowing given that the Modified Stableford scoring system is being used for the ninth consecutive edition of the tournament. For more on the course, the format and the tournament, scroll past the projected contenders and others to consider in the field of 132. RELATED: Preview the Barracuda Championship’s new host| The First Look POWER RANKINGS: BARRACUDA CHAMPIONSHIP OTHERS TO CONSIDER • Pat Perez … Pieced together a nice week at TPC Twin Cities for a T23 to go 4-for-5 in the restart. Modified Stableford scoring meshes so well with his swashbuckling approach at golf and at life. • Nick Watney … Got off the schneid with a T12 and four sub-70s at the 3M Open. The Sacramento, California, native now gets to enjoy a virtual home game. It’s been a while, but he went for three top 10s at Montrêux. • Brandon Harkins … The former PGA TOUR member might have the most experience at Old Greenwood. He’s also gone 7-for-7 with three top 25s on the Korn Ferry Tour since its season restarted. • MJ Daffue … He’s not quite Patrick Reed or T.J. Vogel, but Daffue isn’t a slouch, either. He’s in the field on a sponsor exemption, but perhaps he should have declined it in favor of open qualifying. See, as noted by Ryan French in his recap of the open qualifiers for the Workday Charity Open, Daffue is 6-for-10 in the one-round races for a chip and a chair. In all six(!), he’s finished inside the top 30 in the tournament proper, including a T22 at the Workday. He’s built for the Modified Stableford scoring system, and vice versa. True to Nicklaus’ stamp on most properties, there’s room to move it off the tee on the 7,390-yard test, but there are strategic slots and spots from a handful that will separate seriously valuable drives from pedestrian fairway splitters. The entire course is blanketed with a blend of bentgrass and Poa annua not dissimilar to what many in the field experienced on most or all of a handful of recent sites where the PGA TOUR has set up shop. Of course, the big difference between locales such at TPC River Highlands, Detroit Golf Club and Muirfield Village is the altitude. At about 6,000 feet above sea level, conversions to compensate will be necessary to capitalize on scoring opportunities. Greens average 5,300 square feet, but Nicklaus-esque undulations will make them feel even smaller. Primary rough rising to three-and-a-half inches reinforces the goal to get the math right. Despite the customary challenge of the course, the overarching narrative concerning it and the week in general is to have a good time. It’s a resort community where countless locals are summering. With majestic vistas, clean and dry air, and nothing but sunshine all week with daytimes highs in the 80s, it’s golf for the soul ahead of an intense stretch of action on the horizon. Contributing to the thrill are par 4s measuring 357 yards, 345 yards and 396 yards at the eighth, 11th and 16th holes, respectively. However, with two of the par 5s and the shortest two par 3s on the front side, contenders in the final round probably will have built a foundation early in the day, and then take whatever they can coming home. Modified Stableford totals points (like a fantasy league), so positive numbers are good for the only time all season. The worst a golfer can score on any hole is minus-3 points for a double bogey (or worse). ShotLink is not used to measure performance. In addition to 300 FedExCup points and a two-year PGA TOUR membership exemption, the winner will qualify for next week’s PGA Championship. As of midday Tuesday, only nine golfers in the field are exempt into the major. Incidentally, fields for additional events entering this season were reduced to 120, but this week’s field was reset to 132 to help compensate for playing time missed due to the pandemic. ROB BOLTON’S SCHEDULE PGATOUR.COM’s Fantasy Insider Rob Bolton recaps and previews every tournament from numerous angles. Look for his following contributions as scheduled. MONDAY: Rookie Ranking, Qualifiers, Reshuffle, Medical Extensions, Power Rankings (WGC-St. Jude) TUESDAY*: Power Rankings (Barracuda), Sleepers (WGC-St. Jude), Fantasy Insider * – Rob is a member of the panel for PGATOUR.COM’s Expert Picks for PGA TOUR Fantasy Golf, which also publishes on Tuesday.

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Matt Kuchar defended paying caddie David Giral Ortiz $5,000 from his $1.296 million winner’s check in November, telling GolfChannel.com, “Making $5,000 is a great week.”

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CARNOUSTIE, Scotland – Brooks Koepka has played 18 majors and won two of them. He’s behind schedule. Despite his back-to-back victories at the U.S. Open, the 28-year-old Koepka believes he should have won at least one more by this stage of his career. He’s had opportunities, including The Open Championship at St. Andrews in 2015 when he was in contention until a lost ball at the relatively easy 12th hole led to a triple bogey. “We were playing behind Tiger and nobody could find the golf ball,� said Koepka, who eventually finished T-10, five shots behind Zach Johnson. “… You make par there, you never know.� At the 2016 PGA Championship, Koepka entered the final round just two shots off the lead held by Jimmy Walker but was hampered by an ankle injury and shot 70 to finish T-4. “I was just dead,� he said. “I couldn’t even push off it.� Looking back now, Koepka said, “I thought I should have probably squeaked one of those away. … I’ve got some work to do.� Koepka also had a T-5 finish the previous year at Whistling Straits, but there was no catching Jason Day that week. Still, that performance in Wisconsin foreshadowed his winning effort in last year’s U.S. Open at Erin Hills on a bomber’s course. Last month, Koepka showed his versatility by winning on a much different – and more difficult – U.S. Open layout at Shinnecock Hills. It may have been a surprising result to some, who pigeonhole Koepka because of his length off the tee. He currently ranks 24th on the PGA TOUR in driving distance and second in putting average; his strokes gained averages off the tee and on the green are relatively similar. Asked about his reputation as a one-trick pony, Koepka replied: “They get infatuated with distance, and they only see that. Yeah, we do hit it long, but there’s quite a few guys who do hit it much further than I do. “I’m a good putter. My short game’s come a long way in the last few years. Maybe the last five years it’s gotten tremendously better from where it was. And I always stroke it well. I’m always a good iron player.� That kind of balance in his game has allowed him to rise to world No. 4, and he’s currently 13th in FedExCup points despite just being limited to seven starts due to injury since the calendar flipped to 2018. Certainly he’s a threat this week to win his second consecutive major, and no one should be surprised now if he does. Koepka started his pro career playing in Europe, and he’s already recorded one pro win in Scotland, at the Scottish Hydro Challenge five years ago in Aviemore. His comfort level on links courses is quite high. “It’s so much fun to play because of the creativity you can use,� he said. “I think I step over a shot, and I could see seven to 10 different ways to play the shot. To me, that’s fun.� THREE PLAYERS TO PONDER Tiger Woods Hasn’t won The Open since 2006, hasn’t won a major since 2008, hasn’t won any event since 2015. But his stinger shots should serve him well this week. Patrick Reed “Captain America� said he feels the love whenever he comes overseas because of his passion. “I think they really enjoy that,� the Masters champ explained. Jordan Spieth Will the nice, long break since his last start help solve his putting woes? If so, you’ve got to like his chances to defend. THE FLYOVER When Tom Watson won at Carnoustie in 1975 in his first Open start, he played the par-3 16th five times (once in a playoff against Jack Newton). He never made par. In 2007 when Carnoustie last hosted The Open, just 19 birdies were made, second fewest on any hole that week. At 248 yards, often into the wind, the hole will have many players just hoping to successfully get up-and-down. In a BBC Scotland poll of players about the scariest hole in The Open rota, both Darren Clarke and Martin Kaymer pointed to the 16th. “Just brutal. No other word for it,� said Clarke, the 2011 Open champ. WEATHER CHECK The Open forecast for Thursday calls for “dry with sunny spells for the remainder of play. Clouding over during the late evening and into the night with outbreaks of rain developing during the early hours of Friday. Winds SW 12-18 mph, gusting 20 mph at times, slowly moderating during Thursday evening. Max temp 21C (69.8 degrees F). “Friday: A much cloudier day than Thursday. Outbreaks of rain during the morning, mainly light but some heavier bursts possible. Turning drier and perhaps brighter during the afternoon and evening. Rainfall totals in the order of 3-6mm look likely to build up during Thursday night and Friday. Winds varying between S and SW 8-12 mph, occasionally 15 mph. Max temp 19C (66.2 degrees F). “Saturday: Rather cloudy but mainly dry and some warm sunny spells are possible. Winds probably starting light and variable in direction but should settle at S or SW 8-12 mph during the afternoon. Max temp 21C. “Sunday: A similar day to Saturday; often cloudy but with a good chance of some sunny spells. A breezier day with winds picking up to SW 12-18 mph with a chance of gusts 20-25 mph. Feeling warm, especially in any sunshine with a max temp of 22C (71.6 degrees F)� For the latest weather news from Carnoustie, Scotland, check out PGATOUR.COM’s Weather Hub. SOUND CHECK I’m still not sure if this is going to be the toughest Open ever or the easiest Open.Who is the main attraction this year?There’s 5,000 different ways for me to play these holes out here, but for me, it was pretty clear-cut on how to play each hole. BY THE NUMBERS 26 – Years since the last Englishman won The Open (Nick Faldo in 1992) 24 – Worldwide starts without a win made by Jordan Spieth since winning The Open last year at Royal Birkdale. He did have two runner-up finishes in last year’s FedExCup Playoffs. 7 – Rounds in the 60s shot by the seven winners in 28 combined rounds at Carnoustie in The Open. Padraig Harrington had three of them in 2007. Tom Watson two in 1975. Paul Lawrie (1999) and Ben Hogan (1953) one each. SCATTERSHOTS Much has been made of the streak of five majors won by American players in their 20s (Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka twice). Spieth said it’s not just physical ability, but the mental strength of believing there are no age limits to winning. “A natural transition into kind of fearless golf at the highest level,� Spieth said. Justin Thomas respects the potential jinx about touching a trophy before you win it, but there’s nothing he can do about it now. After Zach Johnson won The Open Championship in 2015, Thomas drank some wine out of the Claret Jug. Perhaps it doesn’t matter. Thomas was 9-years-old when he held the Wanamaker Trophy that David Toms won at the 2001 PGA Championship. Thomas, of course, ended up winning the same trophy last year. “I was holding his Wanamaker trophy and that panned out OK,� Thomas said. “So I’m hoping there’s no jinx.� After winning Olympic gold in men’s golf in 2016, Justin Rose took the medal with him to several events after that, allowing his peers and fans to see the game’s first Olympic gold since 1904. He no longer does that. “It was fun for a bit,� he said. “I got a sense the boys were getting irritated after two or three months of doing it, and I thought, that’s enough. But yes, when you win a tournament like that, you have four years of bragging rights.�

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