290th Time Is the Charm for Stroud in Reno; Hoge Ties for 4th

RENO, Nevada -- Chris Stroud needed two extra holes to win the Barracuda Championship on Sunday. But when you've already played 289 PGA Tour events without a victory, you don't mind having to wait just a little bit longer. 

At least, he didn't have to wait out two rain delays on the course. He had already finished his round and collected 20 points in the Modified Stablefford Scoring System (double eagle 8, eagle 5, birdie 2, bogey -1, double or worse -3). He capped off regulation play in his fourth round with an eagle at the 616-yard, par-5 18th hole at Montreux Golf & Country Club. Those five points pushed his four-day total to 44.

Eventually, he was tied at that number by PGA Tour rookie Richy Werenski and 45-year-old Greg Owen, the third-round leader.

Stroud, who was a two-time All-American at Lamar University, looked the part in the playoff. He hit a drive of more than 350 yards at No. 18 on the first extra hole (Montreux G&CC is more than a mile above sea level; so the air is thin, and the ball goes farther than it would at lower elevations). He followed his prodigious drive with a 6-iron second shot that ran right past the hole and left him with a 25-foot putt for an eagle. He missed, but his two-putt birdie matched the birdie by Werenski, who needed an 8-foot putt for his 4. Owen hit his second shot into a bunker and thinned an explosion shot. He didn't come close to matching the birdies by the other two players and was eliminated. 

On the second extra hole (No. 18 again), Stroud, 35, played the hole nearly perfectly once again, leaving his second shot about 20 feet short of the hole, and two-putting for another birdie. That was good enough to settle the matter, because Werensky's second shot took a big bounce over the green, and he failed to get up and down from there for his birdie. He hit a weak chip shot and had to putt for birdie from outside of where Stroud hit his eagle putt. 

The victory was worth $594,000. It also got Stroud into the PGA Championship later this week, and moved him up from No. 144 on the PGA Tour's FedEx points list to No. 76, which means he will be fully exempt for the PGA Tour next year (the top 125 on the FedEx Points List maintain their exempt status). And it gets the former All-American from Lamar University  into the FedEx Playoffs, a four-tournament series where there's a lot of money to be won. The winner of the FedEx Playoffs will get $10 million.

Also moving up on the FedEx points list -- which is similar to but identical to the PGA Tour money list -- was Tom Hoge, the former Minnesota State Amateur champion from Fargo. He birdied three holes in a row on the back nine, the 14th, 15th and 16th, to earn six points move all the way up to a tie for fourth place, along with Stuart Appleby, at 41 points. His birdie at the 230-yard 16th was an adventure. His 4-iron tee shot sailed way right of the green but hit a tree, which saved Hoge from disaster. The ball bounced back toward the green, and Hoge then holed a flop shot from about 70 feet.

As a result of his efforts in Nevada, Hoge moved up from No. 181 on the FedEx points list to 163. There are only a couple of weeks left in the PGA Tour regular season for 2016-17, and Hoge would do well to at least get up into the top 150 on the points list. That would get him into something like 16 or 17 tournaments next year. If he doesn't crack the top 150, he could be spending most of his time on the Web.com Tour next year. On the other hand, Hoge is guaranteed to get into the Web.com Finals, which start in a few weeks. The Finals are a four-tournament series, and the top 25 finishers from that series will gain exemptions for the 2017-18 PGA Tour.

So stay tuned.   


PGA TOUR

Barracuda Championship

At Montreux Golf & Country Club

Par 72, 7,472 yards

Reno, Nevada

Final results (The tournament was scored using a Modified Stableford System. A par was worth 0, but a birdie was worth 2, eagle 5 and double eagle 8. Bogeys were minus1, and doubles or worse minus 3.)

Points by round                                    Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4  Total                      

1. Chris Stroud                   $594,000            9        3       12        20        44    (won playoff with birdie on second extra hole) 

T2. Richy Werenski            $290,400           11      15        4        14        44 

T2. Greg Owen                   $290,400            9       14      14         7        44  

T4. Tom Hoge                    $145,200           11       11       9        10        41

T4. Stuart Appleby             $145,200           14       10       8          9        41

T6. Robert Garrigus           $114,675            7         11       9         13       40

T6. Derek Fathauer           $114,675             7         14      11          8       40

8. Sam Saunders               $102,300           10          4      13        12       39

T9. Ryan Palmer                 $92,400            13         2         6        17      38

T9. Patton Kizzire                $92,400            13         6       10         9       38 

T34. Charlie Danielson      $17,820             5        6        6         11        28  

Missed cut (10 points) 

                                                                      Day 1      Day 2               Total 
Tim Herron                                                       3             -1                      2

Cam Beckman                                                  2             -1                      1

Troy Merritt                                                      -1             -1                     -2