Rory McIlroy commits to The Honda Classic

RENO, Nev. — Greg Owen had nine birdies on Saturday to take five-point third round lead of the Barracuda Championship. Owen had eight birdies and three pars on 11 holes before a double-bogey on 18 to finish a 14-point round in the modified Stableford scoring system that gave him 37 points going into Sunday’s final round. Stuart Appleby and Derek Fathauer both had birdies on 18 to finish round three tied for second with 32 points. Ricky Barnes had 15 points, including five consecutive birdies, to move up 14 spots into fourth place with 31 points. Second-round leader Richy Werenski had three of his four bogies on the back nine and fell into a tie for fifth with Tom Hoge, Ben Martin and Dicky Pride with 30 points apiece. The tournament is the PGA TOUR’s only Stableford scoring event. The system awards eight points for a double eagle, five points for an eagle, two points for a birdie and deducts a point for a bogey and three points for a double bogey or worse.

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LEXINGTON, Ky. – A month ago, Brittany Lincicome happened to be paired with Michelle Wie at the LPGA event in Arkansas. So she tried to pick Wie’s brain about what it was like to play in a PGA TOUR event – which the Hawaiian did eight times as a teenager and Lincicome will do at this week’s Barbasol Championship. Not a lot of good that did her. “She wasn’t very helpful,â€� Lincicome said with a chuckle. “(She) said she couldn’t remember it was so long ago.â€� Ten years, to be exact. When Lincicome steps to the 10th tee at 9:59 a.m. ET on Thursday, she’ll become the sixth woman to play in a TOUR event, joining Wie, who was the last, Annika Sorenstam, Suzy Whaley, Shirley Spork and Babe Didrikson Zaharias. And Lincicome, who is playing with Sam Ryder and Conrad Shindler, plans to soak it all in. “To be playing in the practice round today, hitting on the driving range, it’s kind of surreal,â€� Lincicome said. “I just can’t stop smiling. … I can’t wait until Thursday.â€� Lincicome has won eight times on the LPGA Tour and played in six Solheim Cups. She narrowly missed getting her ninth victory on Sunday, too, when a birdie putt did a 340-degree spin out of the hole and Lincicome ended up losing on the first hole of sudden death. Even with such impressive credentials, Lincicome knows she’ll be nervous. But, hey, Juli Inkster always told her if she wasn’t she wouldn’t be human. “Obviously I’ve heard many times I would be first LPGA or female person to make the cut in a men’s event,â€� Lincicome said. “(I’m) trying to block that all out and just go out and play and have fun and play my own game and not be too tense or uptight about it.

“I think if I can do that and take a few slow breaths and not pass out on the first hole, I’ll be OK.â€� Lincicome, who represents Barbasol’s parent company, Perio, Inc., is one of the LPGA’s biggest hitters. When she was a kid, she remembers working as a standard bearer at the JC Penney Classic, and one of teams she got to see up close and personal was John Daly and Laura Davies. “That’s probably why I like hitting it far now,â€� she said. Lincicome’s average driving distance, measured on two holes each week, is 269.520 yards, which ranks her 10th on the LPGA. That’s just 6 yards out of No. 1 – but outside the top 200 on the PGA TOUR. So Lincicome — who joked that it felt like the Monday qualifier she played with on Tuesday, Dominico Geminiani, was “outdriving me by 100 yards, it felt likeâ€� — knows she’ll be at a disadvantage. Champions Trace, which hosts the Barbasol Championship, measures more than 778 yards longer than the course the LPGA played last week. Even so, in the nine holes Lincicome and Geminiani played on Tuesday, she had one hybrid to a green and otherwise, her longest club was a 5-iron. “It’s really not that bad, and 5-iron is one of my favorite clubs, so that’s OK,â€� Lincicome said with characteristic positivity.

“But, yeah, just the par-5s, won’t be able to get to the par-5s. Have to lay it up to my favorite number, make birdie, and take advantage of those holes for sure. Keep it in the fairway.â€� Geminiani, who saw Lincicome several times when he was working at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, Florida, which is about 50 minutes from her Gulfport home, came away impressed with her game. “I think she’ll be just fine,â€� he said. “A lot of the holes are doglegs. She’s been playing really well, too.â€� Lincicome said she was “speechlessâ€� when she got the invitation to play in the Barbasol Championship. And she has felt nothing but good vibes in the two months since the announcement was made – she hasn’t even had to block anyone on social media, Lincicome said with a grin — as well as during her first day at Keene Trace Golf Club. “All the guys on the putting green, in the lunchroom, everyone has been super supportive, which is great,â€� Lincicome said. “They’re all like, it’s great that you’re here. Thanks for coming. “I was like, thanks for having me, you know.â€� Lincicome, who played on the boys team at her high school, expects to learn things this week that will make her a better player when she returns to normalcy on the LPGA Tour. And as for what the men might learn from her? “Probably more like not so much the golf, but like what kind of snacks do I have in my bag, how many fish have I caught recently.â€� Lincicome said. “Maybe lighten up a little bit on the course. When I hit a bad shot I try to still be chatty and not too uptight about it.

“I don’t know, maybe they can learn that.â€� Lincicome saw a familiar face in her gallery on Tuesday. She met a father and his daughter at the U.S. Women’s Open and they planned to come to the Barbasol Championship but the young girl was ill. Instead, her father brought the photo they took with Lincicome for her to sign. “Playing in this event is just great for stuff like that,â€� she said. “If I can inspire one child to pick up the game of golf and want to play, I feel like my job as a pro has been succeeded. “To influence any child is pretty cool to be in the position we are, so any time I see kids I always try to give them a ball or a glove or make sure I sign their autograph. That might be that one autograph that will bring them back next time, and that’s a pretty cool feeling.â€�

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