Owen Leads in Reno; Hoge Makes Ace, Climbs to T5

RENO, Nevada -- Tom Hoge hit the shot of the day during the third round of the Barracuda Championship, when he made a hole in one. But Greg Owen made the most noise, as he rattled off eight birdies in an 11-hole stretch. That was worth 16 points in the Modified Stableford Scoring System that's being used this week, and it propelled the 45-year-old veteran of the PGA, Web.com and European tours to a five-point lead going into Sunday's final round.

Owen has racked up 37 points thus far, despite losing three points on the 18th hole at Montreux Golf & Country Club. Derek Fathauer and Stuart Appleby are tied for second at 32. Ricky Barnes picked up the most points Saturday -- 15 -- and he's now fourth with a total of 31. 

Hoge, a former two-time Minnesota State Amateur champion, earned 10 points on Day 3 and is at 30 points for the week. He's tied for fifth, along with Dicky Pride, Ben Martin and Richy Werenski. 

Basically, the Barracuda Championship is a chance to make up ground for PGA Tour players who aren't high enough on the money list or in the World Rankings to get into the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club.

Most of the guys in Reno need to make up ground with only a couple of weeks left on the 2016-17 PGA Tour regular season. Some are just trying to get into the top 200 on the FedEx point list, which is similar but not identical to the PGA Tour's official money list. Being in the top 200 would get them into the Web.com Finals, and guarantee them a place to play next year (the Web.com). In addition, it would give them a chance to play their way back onto the PGA Tour for the 2017-18 season with a good showing in the Finals. (The top 25 finishers in the Web.com Finals earn PGA Tour cards.) Others are trying to get into the top 150 on the FedEx/money list, which would  give them at least some status on the PGA Tour for the next season. Most of the guys at Reno this week are hoping to get into the top 125 on the list, because that would make them fully exempt for 2017-18 -- and it would also get them into the FedEx Playoffs, a four-tournament series where there is a lot of money to be made.  

Owen started the week No. 162 on the FedEx list. If he wins, he would move all the way up to No. 93.

He has one European Tour victory on his resume, and he won once on the Web.com (it was called the Nationwide Tour at the time). Owen, has never won on the PGA Tour, however, even though he should have. He was leading the 2006 Bay Hill Invitational with two holes remaining, but played them in 3 over par and lost by a stroke to Rod Pampling.

That bit of history makes what happened to him on the par-5 18th hole at Montreux on Saturday a little more ominious. With 40 points to his credit, and a par 5 in front of him, Owen pull-hooked his drive into the wilderness left of the fairway. After taking a penalty stroke for an unplayable lie, he hacked his third shot back onto the fairway, but then flaired his fourth shot into a water hazard to the right of the green. The resulting double bogey cost him 3 points.

Doubles are minus 3, bogeys minus 1 and pars 0. Birdies are worth 2 points, eagles 5 and double eagles 8.

The 18th hole at Montreux is 616 yards long. But the course is more than a mile above sea level, which means that 616 yards translate to something more like 550, and there have been a lot of birdies at the 18th this week. So Owen could have gotten to 42 points with 4 -- and had a 10-point lead.  Instead, he made X, and his lead if five.

As for Hoge, he is No. 181 on the FedEx list. If he finished where he is now, tied for fifth, he would move up to No. 166. A higher finish could move him up into the top 150. To make the top 125, he would have to win this week.     

On Saturday, the 28-year-old former TCU All-American (he finished third in the 2009 NCAA) got off to a slow start, with a bogey at the first hole, a birdie at the par-5 second and another bogey at the fourth. That meant he had 0 points for the day, and he still didn't have any points when he got to the tee at the 176-yard, par-3 seventh. Then he holed his 9-iron tee shot -- 5 points. He followed that with a birdie at the 636-yard, par-5 eighth (2 points), and added three more points early on the back nine by going birdie, bogey, birdie at the 12th, 13th and 14th holes. 


PGA TOUR

Barracuda Championship

At Montreux Golf & Country Club

Par 72, 7,472 yards

Reno, Nevada

Third-round results

Points by round                    Day 1    Day 2     Day 3        Total                      

1. Greg Owen                            9            14           14            37

T2. Derek Fathauer                   7            14           11            32

T2. Stuart Appleby                   14            10            8            32

4. Ricky Barnes                         7              9           15           31

T5. Tom Hoge                         11              9           10           30

T5. Dicky Pride                         7              13           10          30

T5. Ben Martin                         13             10            7           30

T5. Richy Werenski                  11             15            4          30

T9. J.J. Spaun                          11              6           12          29

T9. Patton Kizzire                     13              6            10         29

T49. Charlie Danielson             5              6              6        17

Missed cut (10 points) 

Tim Herron                                 3             -1                         2

Cam Beckman                           2             -1                         1

Troy Merritt                               -1             -1                        -2