Round 4 - Greg Chalmers claims first PGA Tour title

July 4, 2016

Greg Chalmers won the Barracuda Championship on Sunday at Montreux for his first PGA Tour title, eagling the final hole for a six-point victory in the modified Stableford scoring event.

The 42-year-old Australian won in his 386th start after entering the week as the active player with the most events without a victory.

''It's hard to win and I'm very thrilled and very pleased to get it done,'' Chalmers said. ''It was a tough. I knew today would be difficult. And we had difficult conditions. I was blessed, I think, that guys found it tough just the same as I found it tough.''

A point ahead of Gary Woodland and needing at least a par on the par-5 18th to wrap up the victory, Chalmers made an 8-foot eagle putt after hitting a 320-yard drive and 230-yard, 7-iron approach. A few minutes earlier, Woodland hit an 8-iron into the right bunker and three-putted for bogey.

''Quite fortunate that Gary didn't birdie the last,'' Chalmers said. ''That would have put a lot of pressure on me.''

Chalmers had a four-point round to finish with 43 in the system that awards eight points for double eagle, five for eagle, two for birdie and deducts a point for bogey and three for double bogey or worse. He also had two birdies and five bogeys, the last two on Nos. 15 and 17.

The left-hander earned a two-year tour exemption, a spot in the British Open at Royal Troon and other perks. With only conditional status, he had split time between the tour and the Web.com Tour this year. The two-time Australian Open champion missed the cuts in his previous five starts on the big tour.

''Just to get back on the PGA Tour. I can't tell you how exciting that is,'' Chalmers said. ''Forty-two years of age, I turn 43 in October. This is a real fork in the road for my career, and it's in the right direction.''

Because of the West Virginia floods that led to The Greenbrier Classic being canceled, a British Open spot was transferred to the leading player not already eligible at Montreux.

''Can't wait,'' Chalmers said. ''It's such a great thing that the R&A and Barracuda here have done for us, even though the circumstances that came about weren't the greatest.''

Woodland, the 2013 winner, also had a four-point round to finish second.

''It's frustrating,'' Woodland said. ''I didn't make any putts coming down the stretch.''

In standard scoring, Chalmers finished a stroke ahead of Woodland and third-place finisher Colt Knost, closing with a 1-over 73 for a 15-under total.

Knost had a 10-point round to reach 35. He has three top-four finishes in his last five events.

''I stole some today, but I threw a lot away,'' Knost said. ''Honestly, all week I just didn't strike it very well. My short game saved me.''

Tim Herron was another point back after a 13-point round. He was pulling for Chalmers to win.

''That would be great. That would be awesome,'' the 46-year-old Herron said while Chalmers was in the middle of the back nine. ''He's grinding his butt off. We're kind of in that stage of our career - should we hang with the family or should we keep going?''

Brendan Steele and Steve Wheatcroft tied for fifth with 32 points.

''Not the Sunday I wanted,'' Wheatcroft said. ''They definitely changed the golf course up on us. Took us four or five holes to figure that out. Can't imagine too much water went on the greens last night. They were rock hard.''

Rhein Gibson had the shot of the week, holing out from 175 yards for double eagle on the par-5 18th. He set up the albatross with a 370-yard drive.

''I hadn't had a birdie all day and just leaking oil, hitting good shots, not doing anything,'' Gibson said. ''I hit an unbelievable tee shot there, and had a wedge in. ... Saw it go in. The crowd went pretty bonkers.''

Barracuda will donate $100,000 to a charity in Gibson's name. The only other albatross in tournament history was by Shiv Kapur in 2010, when the hole played as No. 9.

Gibson tied for 25th with 24 points. He and other Australian players showered Chalmers with champagne.

''I didn't expect that,'' Chalmers said. ''And kind of unique, because normally a lot of guys will just leave town. So, for them to stay and do that was kind of special.''

Chalmers' father, John, also was there to celebrate.

''My father just comes out to travel with me when my mom and my kids and my family are staying back in Dallas,'' Chalmers said. ''He just likes to come out and watch golf. He plays. It's good for us as father and son - he's 72 now - for us just to bond and chat and solve the world's problems every night.''

Chalmers got the last laugh on a Twitter troll, too.

''Unfortunately, someone on Twitter said, 'That guy can't close out.' ... I'll be tweeting him back later, don't worry about that.''

Round 3 - Greg Chalmers stretches lead

July 3, 2016

Australia's Greg Chalmers extended his lead to six points by making birdie on five of his final six holes in the third round of the PGA Tour's Barracuda Championship.

Chalmers, 42, posted a 15 point round to reach a 39-point total in the scoring system that awards five points for an eagle and two points for a birdie. Players lose one point for a bogey and three points for a double bogey or worse.

Chalmers, of Sydney, finished with seven birdies and a bogey to sit a half dozen points ahead of Ben Martin and Gary Woodland in Reno, Nevada.

Martin recorded the best score of the tournament so far with eight birdies for a 16-point round. Woodland had an 11-point round.

Up for grabs is a spot in the British Open, which takes place in Scotland's Royal Troon in two weeks.

Flooding earlier near the PGA Tour's Greenbrier Classic forced organizers to cancel that event and the Open spot was transferred to the leading player in the Reno event.

Round 2 - Greg Chalmers edges ahead

July 2, 2016

Australian Greg Chalmers, still seeking his first US PGA title after 386 career starts, birdied four of the last six holes to seize a two-point lead halfway through the Barracuda Championship.

The unique tournament uses the Modified Stableford scoring system that awards eight points for an albatross, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, zero for par, minus-one for a bogey and minus-three for any worse score.

Chalmers, whose best US PGA finishes were runner-up efforts at the 2000 Kemper Open and 2009 Buick Open, leads all active PGA players with the most tour starts without a win.

Most of the world's top players are competing in Europe this week or at the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational this week at Akron, Ohio.

Chalmers, who has only conditional tour status, made six birdies and two bogeys at Montreux Golf and Country Club in Reno, Nevada, for 10 points Friday and 24 after two days.

"I just tried to remain patient," Chalmers said. "I was playing OK. I stayed out of trouble on the holes you need to and picked up some really good birdies on the shorter ones when I needed. Tenacity is important. You just know it's going to come. I was rolling the ball pretty good."

Scotland's Martin Laird and American Gary Woodland shared second on 22 points, followed by American Colt Knost on 21, American Brendan Steele on 20 and Aussie Rhein Gibson on 19.

Chalmers answered a bogey at the par-3 seventh with a birdie at nine, but another bogey to start the back nine left him scoreless. The 42-year-old Aussie began a birdie binge at the par-3 11th with a 16-foot putt then hit puts of 12, 16 and seven feet for three birdies in a row on 13-15 and closed with a nine-foot birdie putt at the par-5 18th.

Round 1 - Slim lead for Martin Laird

July 1, 2016

Martin Laird birdied his final hole to record 15 points and a slim lead on Thursday at the Barracuda Championship, which uses a modified Stableford scoring system.

In the system, eagles are worth five points and birdies are worth two. Pars net zero points, bogeys are minus one and a double bogey or worse is minus three off a golfer's score.

Laird got to his total with a birdie on the par-five 18th where he made a putt just outside of five feet. A three-time PGA winner, he his looking for his first triumph since 2013.

Gary Woodland, who won the tournament in 2013, Greg Chalmers and Camilo Villegas are all at 14 points while a group of four are at 13.

Woodland sparked his round with an eagle on the par-five eighth that catapulted him up the leaderboard.

"An eagle in this format, you really jump up that board," Woodland told reporters. "It was nice to make one and then follow that up with birdies on four of the next five (holes)."

Villegas played alongside Woodland and made seven birdies in his bogey free round and the Colombian said he enjoyed playing under the modified scoring system.

"It frees you up a little bit. You get a little more aggressive," Villegas said. "All in all it was a great day out there."

Scores

1 Greg Chalmers +43 43 $576,000
2 Gary Woodland +37 37 $345,600
3 Colt Knost +35 35 $217,600
4 Tim Herron +34 34 $153,600
5t Brendan Steele +32 32 $121,600
5t Steve Wheatcroft +32 32 $121,600
7t Martin Laird +31 31 $103,200
7t Ben Martin +31 31 $103,200
9t Miguel Angel Carballo +30 30 $86,400
9t Kyle Reifers +30 30 $86,400
9t Sam Saunders +30 30 $86,400
12 D.H. Lee +29 29 $73,600
13t Joey Garber +28 28 $60,000
13t Cameron Percy +28 28 $60,000
13t Wes Roach +28 28 $60,000
13t Mark Wilson +28 28 $60,000
17t Eric Axley +27 27 $48,000
17t Aaron Baddeley +27 27 $48,000
17t D.A. Points +27 27 $48,000
20t Mark Hubbard +26 26 $38,613
20t Will MacKenzie +26 26 $38,613
20t Greg Owen +26 26 $38,613
23t Bronson Burgoon +25 25 $32,000
23t Rocco Mediate +25 25 $32,000
25t Thomas Aiken +24 24 $25,520
25t Blayne Barber +24 24 $25,520
25t Ben Crane +24 24 $25,520
25t Rhein Gibson +24 24 $25,520
29t Graham DeLaet +23 23 $21,760
29t Robert Garrigus +23 23 $21,760
29t Alex Prugh +23 23 $21,760
32t Troy Matteson +22 22 $18,933
32t Jeff Overton +22 22 $18,933
32t Nick Taylor +22 22 $18,933
35t Michael Kim +21 21 $15,440
35t Si Woo Kim +21 21 $15,440
35t Andrew Landry +21 21 $15,440
35t Steve Marino +21 21 $15,440
35t Geoff Ogilvy +21 21 $15,440
35t Cameron Tringale +21 21 $15,440
41t Henrik Norlander +20 20 $12,480
41t Rob Oppenheim +20 20 $12,480
41t Scott Stallings +20 20 $12,480
44t Charlie Danielson +19 19 $9,074
44t Ken Duke +19 19 $9,074
44t Morgan Hoffmann +19 19 $9,074
44t Whee Kim +19 19 $9,074
44t Billy Mayfair +19 19 $9,074
44t Rod Pampling +19 19 $9,074
44t Chez Reavie +19 19 $9,074
44t Camilo Villegas +19 19 $9,074
44t Tim Wilkinson +19 19 $9,074
53t Jason Gore +18 18 $7,408
53t Carlos Ortiz +18 18 $7,408
53t D.J. Trahan +18 18 $7,408
53t Jhonattan Vegas +18 18 $7,408
57t Brice Garnett +17 17 $7,200
57t Seung-yul Noh +17 17 $7,200
59t Ricky Barnes +16 16 $7,072
59t Patrick Rodgers +16 16 $7,072
61t Zac Blair +15 15 $6,944
61t Alex Cejka +15 15 $6,944
63t Tyler Aldridge +14 14 $6,816
63t Spencer Levin +14 14 $6,816
65 Cameron Smith +13 13 $6,720
66t Tom Hoge +12 12 $6,560
66t Kelly Kraft +12 12 $6,560
66t Shawn Stefani +12 12 $6,560
66t Hunter Stewart +12 12 $6,560
70 Mark Hensby +10 10 $6,400
71 Cameron Beckman +8 8 $6,336
72 Jonas Blixt DNF 10 $6,112
72t Jon Rahm DNF 11 $6,240
72 Tyrone Van Aswegen DNF 11 $6,240
73t Jay McLuen DNF 9 $5,984
73t Rory Sabbatini DNF 9 $5,984
73t Michael Thompson DNF 10 $6,112
75 Tim Petrovic DNF 7 $5,856
75t Brendon Todd DNF 7 $5,856
77 Kyle Stanley DNF 5 $5,760
78 Abraham Ancer DNF 2 $5,696
- Arjun Atwal MC 6 $0
- Andres Gonzales MC 6 $0
- Luke List MC 6 $0
- Lee McCoy MC 6 $0
- Scott Pinckney MC 6 $0
- Dicky Pride MC 6 $0
- Chris Stroud MC 6 $0
- Will Wilcox MC 6 $0
- Stuart Appleby MC 5 $0
- Bryce Molder MC 5 $0
- John Rollins MC 5 $0
- Brett Stegmaier MC 5 $0
- Erik Compton MC 4 $0
- Glen Day MC 4 $0
- Steve Flesch MC 4 $0
- Lee Janzen MC 4 $0
- Sung Kang MC 4 $0
- John Merrick MC 4 $0
- Ted Purdy MC 4 $0
- Andres Romero MC 4 $0
- John Senden
MC 4 $0
- J.J. Henry MC 3 $0
- Trevor Immelman MC 3 $0
- Hiroshi Iwata MC 3 $0
- Derek Ernst MC 2 $0
- Chesson Hadley MC 2 $0
- Craig Barlow MC 1 $0
- Justin Hicks MC 1 $0
- Brendon de Jonge MC 1 $0
- Michael Bradley MC 0 $0
- Scott Langley MC 0 $0
- Marc Turnesa MC 0 $0
- Darron Stiles MC -2 $0
- Charlie Wi MC -2 $0
- Parker McLachlin MC -3 $0
- Scott Smith MC -3 $0
- Geoff Gonzalez MC -4 $0
- Frank Lickliter II MC -5 $0
- Dawie Van Der Walt MC -5 $0
- Martin Piller MC -6 $0
- Matt Bettencourt MC -7 $0
- Chip Deason MC -7 $0
- Tye Gabriel MC -8 $0
- Luke Guthrie MC -8 $0
- Ben Curtis MC -9 $0
- Heath Slocum MC -10 $0
- Chris Smith MC -10 $0
- Elliott Paylor MC -12 $0
- Ray Otis MC -23 $0
- Lucas Lee WD -2 $0
- John Huh WD 0 $0