Rico Hoey of the Philippines rolled in seven birdies on his way to nabbing a one-point lead at the Barracuda Championship on Friday at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, Calif.
The Modified Stableford scoring system employed at the event gives golfers points for positive holes — two points for a birdie, five points for an eagle — as opposed to the traditional stroke-play method where low scores are preferable.
Hoey shot a plus-13 for the second day in a row, and at plus-26 he is one better than Max McGreevy and South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen. McGreevy had the round of the day — a plus-16 with six birdies and an eagle — and van Rooyen scored a plus-14.
Although Hoey competes under the Filipino flag, his family moved to California when he was young.
“I just feel like I’m at home,” Hoey said. “It’s California. Grew up in California. I love this event. It’s always fun doing like a point system so you feel like you want to go make a lot of birdies. Yeah, having a good time.”
Hoey started on the back nine at the Old Greenwood course Friday and birdied five of his last 11 holes, including back-to-back at Nos. 17-18 after a bogey at the par-3 16th.
McGreevy’s electric round featured four birdies on his first nine (the back nine) and an eagle putt at the 551-yard, par-5 third.
“Two holes (after the eagle) I hit it in the water,” McGreevy said of an ensuing bogey at No. 5. “If it was a normal tournament I don’t think I would have tried to hit it out of the water, but knowing you can only lose three points (for a double bogey or worse) — hopefully you’re not doing that — it kind of gives you a freeing thought of maybe a couple different shots that you would play a little bit differently.”
Hoey and McGreevy are searching for their first wins on the PGA Tour, but van Rooyen is in a different boat. He has two PGA Tour victories, the first coming at this tournament in 2021.
“I prefer to be higher up the FedEx Cup and not be in this position, but I’ve done it before,” van Rooyen said. “The game has been there all year. I just haven’t been getting it in the hole. So it’s been a game of incredible patience knowing that everything is just kind of waiting. Like you said, I did in 2021; maybe I’m peaking at just the right time.”
Frenchman Tom Vaillant is alone in fourth at plus-23 after scoring a plus-15 on Friday. Among four players tied at plus-22 is Joel Dahmen, the fan favorite who split with caddie Geno Bonnalie this week amid a frustrating rut.
–Field Level Media
