Sahith Theegala leads by two shots at WM Phoenix Open

When Travis Alley arrived at the Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, California, in 2007, he had a feeling he wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon. When Brandon Harkins would end family visits to the Lake Tahoe area, he always knew he’d take advantage of opportunities to return. RELATED: How it works: Modified Stableford | Preview: Barracuda Championship Both men were correct, so it’s no surprise they’ll be in attendance this week when something familiar (the beloved Modified Stableford format) and something new (Old Greenwood) anchor the 22nd annual Barracuda Championship. Alley, now the Director of Golf at the 36-hole Tahoe Mountain Club, and Harkins, a member of the Korn Ferry Tour who was on the PGA TOUR in 2017-18 and 2018-19, are not shy about their passion for this mountain resort approximately 200 miles from San Francisco. “It’s a golf club that is also a ski club,” Alley said. “It’s a ski club that is also a golf club.” As for Old Greenwood, a Jack Nicklaus design that opened in 2004, “I think it’s a phenomenal layout for the Stableford format,” Harkins said. While Alley — a 2007 graduate of the PGA Golf Management program at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina — certainly spends far more time at the Tahoe Mountain Club than Harkins, the native of Walnut Creek, California, embraces every visit. “Growing up in Northern California, we had a house in Tahoe, so it’s a special place for me,” said Harkins. And nearly every visit to the Tahoe area involves a stop in at the Tahoe Mountain Club, where a second course, Gray’s Crossing, was designed by Peter Jacobsen and opened in 2007. It’s Old Greenwood, though, that Harkins has played perhaps 20 times. “I like the layout and it’s always in nice shape,” he said. “There are some tricky holes, but there are also some great risk/reward holes where you can gain some points in a hurry.” Does his experience at Old Greenwood, which will be hosting the Barracuda Championship for the first time, make him a popular sounding board for players seeking insight and any chance for an edge? Harkins laughed. “To be honest, not many players have reached out to me,” he said. “But a couple of guys who know I’ve been there quite a bit have asked about it and whether or not they should put the Barracuda event on their schedule? His answer? “The same for everyone – absolutely,” said Harkins. Players likely will be accustomed to the usual elevation advantage, as they had the same thing at Montreux Golf and Country Club in Reno, Nevada, for the first 21 years of this tournament. “Being at 6,000 feet, the ball will go far,” said Alley. “Players will have some short par 4s they can drive (the 357-yard eighth; 345-yard 11th; 396-yard 16th), and there’ll be a lot of opportunity to make up ground,” said Alley. “But, at the same time, there’ll be opportunities to lose it, too.” It’s as good a time as any to remind folks that the Barracuda is that one tournament where players want to be on the “plus” side after their scores are recorded. Last year’s champion, Collin Morikawa, finished at +47, winning by three over Troy Merritt, in this event where points are awarded for birdies, eagles and albatrosses, and subtracted for bogeys, doubles, or worse. Alley suspects the shorter par 4s will yield big points and the par 5s (the 631-yard second; 578-yard sixth; and 551-yard 12th) will, as usual on the PGA TOUR, be reached in two shots to set up eagle attempts. “But the par 3s are nasty out here,” he said. “They have very difficult greens.” Therein lies an aspect of Old Greenwood (at 7,390 yards, it will play to a par of 71) that will be recognized by those players who have a familiarity with Nicklaus golf designs; the greens are expansive with demanding undulation and an assortment of hole locations. Players may also draw a connection between a few of the holes at Old Greenwood with some iconic holes elsewhere in the world. The 187-yard, par-3 seventh, for instance, has a Redan green and might evoke thoughts of the famed 15th at North Berwick in Scotland, the original Redan. The short, 357-yard, par-4 eighth features a series of six bunkers that surround a green tucked to the right, which is the mold of No. 10 at Riviera. Then there’s the 18th hole, a demanding 451-yard challenge that moves gently uphill, reminiscent of the closing hole at Nicklaus’ beloved Muirfield Village. As for the other features that will catch your eye – from the towering pine trees, or the series of streams that connect four lakes on the expansive property, or possible sightings of wildlife – that is a tribute to the breath-taking mountain setting. It will scream for you to take a deep breath, relax, and simply meander among nature – and most days Alley and the resort guests can do just that. But right now, things are moving quickly at the Tahoe Mountain Club. Winter snow pretty much melted away by late March “and since then we’ve never let our foot off the gas,” said Alley. “We’ve looked forward to seeing something like this and it’s exciting to see it all come together.”

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What do you get when you combine the design of Riviera Country Club, the exclusivity of a 120-man field, the elegance of its construct and improved perks for the champion? Introducing the latest iteration of The Genesis Invitational. The anchor of the West Coast Swing got a detailing for its 94th edition, but Tiger Woods remains the host. Lost on no one is the irony that he made his PGA TOUR debut here in 1992, yet he’s winless in 13 career appearances. So, if you’re scripting the possibility in La La Land, it’d be poetic on this property for Woods to collect career victory No. 83 and break his tie with Sam Snead for most all-time. Scroll past the projected contenders for details on how the tournament was modified, what the field expects at the Riv, what the winner receives and more. POWER RANKINGS: THE GENESIS INVITATIONAL  Notables reviewed in Tuesday’s Fantasy Insider will include defending champion J.B. Holmes, Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau and AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am champ Nick Taylor. Save the 2010 edition when 132 golfers filled the field at Riviera, the previous versions of The Genesis Invitational throughout the FedExCup era reserved space for 144. It included open qualifiers. However, having shifted into the current role as an invite (absent the four-spotter), and having extended the opportunity to play to all 125 who qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs in 2019, the field is as strong as it’s ever been. In fact, until Chesson Hadley and Brice Garnett withdrew after the commitment deadline, it was poised to be a 122-man competition given the plethora of automatic qualifiers. (For other invitationals, only the top 60, 70 or 80 from the previous Playoffs qualify automatically.) Not unlike how the Batman signal in the sky attracts the superhero’s attention, a historic venue generates a high-quality field, and Riviera doesn’t disappoint. It checks the boxes of firm and fair, and it will again this week. Consistently maintained to challenge the world’s best, par never is a bad score on the par 35-36–71. The field average has landed over par every year since 2010. Last year’s was 71.199. For the fifth consecutive edition, Riviera will tip at 7,322 yards. The only impactful change can be found to the right of the green on the par-4 fifth hole where a collection area has been added. Poa annua greens will reach 12-and-a-half feet on the Stimpmeter. The shortest kikuyu rough is presented at an inch and a half. The recent litany of long hitters capturing victory here demonstrates the value of the power and precision, but as easy as it might be to hang the same label on defending champion J.B. Holmes because he ranked ninth in distance of all drives, T2 in greens in regulation (averaging 13 per round) and 11th in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green, that would overlook him paying off the scoring opportunities on the greens. He also led the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. He missed on only three of 10 tries from 10-15 feet. Holmes also paced the field in par-3 scoring and co-led in par-4 scoring, the latter of which is as close to a prerequisite as it gets for everyone planning to see his name on the electronic scoreboards regularly. Riviera’s par 4s are among the most difficult on TOUR every season. Interesting, and perhaps infuriatingly for those who overthink it, the famous 10th hole was the easiest of the 11 par 4s last year. It averaged 3.767. At the certainty of burying the lede, a stacked field also shows to get paid. This year’s prize fund is a record $9.3 million. It’s an increase of $1.9 million over last year. In addition to the standard 500 FedExCup points and invitations into an array of tournaments, the winner will receive $1.674 million. Also new this year is a three-year membership exemption that aligns with the same earned by the winners of the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard and the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide. The elements will do their part in identifying a worthy champion. Sunshine, light winds and daytime highs in the low 60s are expected throughout. 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 TUESDAY*: Sleepers, 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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SAN FRANCISCO — Dustin Johnson lost his yardage book and still found his way through an enormous crowd of contenders Saturday, making eight birdies at Harding Park for a 5-under 65 and a one-shot lead in the PGA Championship. Nothing ever comes easily for Johnson in the majors. In this case, his brother had a spare yardage book. Even that might not have stopped Johnson from making his most birdies in any round of a major. RELATED: Full leaderboard And he needed them all. Johnson was among eight players who had at least a share of the lead at some point Saturday, a wild third round of low scores, long putts and endless possibilities. One possibility is Brooks Koepka hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy for the third straight year, which hasn’t happened since Walter Hagen won four in a row in the 1920s when it was match play. Koepka was one shot behind when he made a few careless mistakes, ran off three straight bogeys and had to birdie the 18th for a 69 to stay within two shots. Scottie Scheffler, the PGA TOUR rookie from Texas, bogeyed his last hole for a 65 and was one shot behind with Cameron Champ (67), who grew up in Sacramento and has the most powerful swing on TOUR. Johnson was at 9-under 201 as he goes for his second major title. For all the chances he has had, this is only the second time he has led going into the final round. “I’m going to have to play good golf if I want to win. It’s simple,” Johnson said. “I’ve got to hit a lot of fairways and a lot of greens. If I can do that tomorrow, I’m going to have a good chance coming down the stretch. … I’m just going to have to do what I did today. Just get it done.” Among the cast of contenders are major champions like Koepka, Jason Day and Justin Rose, and fresh faces like Scheffler, Champ and Collin Morikawa. Also right there was Bryson DeChambeau, thanks to a 95-foot putt for birdie on his last hole. Turns out he can hit long putts, too. Missing from all this action is Tiger Woods, who didn’t make a birdie until the 16th hole and is out of the mix for the fourth straight major since his emotional Masters victory last year. A dozen players were separated by three shots. Haotong Li, the first player from China to lead after any round at a major, was leading through 12 holes until his tee shot didn’t come down from a tree. He made double bogey, dropped two more shots and finished four shots out of the lead. Johnson didn’t have smooth sailing, either, especially when he couldn’t find his yardage book. He thinks it slipped into the bottom of the golf bag, and he didn’t feel like dumping his 14 clubs all over the ground to find it. Austin Johnson, his brother and caddie, had a spare. Johnson shot 65 even with a double bogey on the ninth hole. Mistakes like that might be more costly on Sunday, the first major without any spectators. There was some concern that so many people in contention and no noise on the golf course might make it difficult for contenders to keep track of what’s going on. Then again, Johnson won the U.S. Open in 2016 at Oakmont without knowing the score as the USGA tried to decide whether he should be penalized.

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