Ogilvy to defend Barracuda title

RENO — A year ago, Geoff Ogilvy had to be coaxed to come to Reno and play in the Barracuda Championship.

He won the event, and that kick-started his season. He made it into the FedEx Cup playoffs and finished second at the Deutsche Bank Classic en route to finishing 29th in the final FedEx Cup standings.

Ogilvy is hoping for a little bit of the same magic this year starting today with the opening round of the Barracuda Championship at Montreux Golf & Country Club. With just three events remaining, the Barracuda will play a big role in determining whether he will get back into the FedEx playoffs. Currently he sits 144th and needs to get into the top 125 to extend his season.

In 2014, the Aussie star used an eagle at No. 13 on Sunday and a birdie at No. 14 to take control of the tourney and win by several points over Justin Hicks, who overcame a third-round deficit to overtake Ogilvy for a while on Sunday.

“That was timely, I think,” he said. “I can’t remember the first eagle, but I definitely remember Sunday.

“Justin Hicks. He came out of nowhere. I think I was one behind going into that hole. It was a massive bonus to eagle that hole and then birdie the next. This (Stableford) format is cool. If you have an eagle, it feels like it’s getting three or four shots rather than just two. I had a relatively comfortable last few holes which was nice.”

Ogilvy’s best finish this season is a seventh-place tie at the Wells Fargo Championship. He’s played a lighter schedule by design, and the inactivity has made it tough to consistently play well. His summer schedule has been especially light.

“My summer has been a winter,” he said. “Melbourne (Australia) winters are not Chicago winters, but they are not Arizona winters. They’re kind of cool and it’s been raining a bit. It’s been hard to get the kids back to Australia to see my family and their cousins and stuff.

“So it’s been a light schedule this summer, but that was kind of on purpose. I overplayed last year. So the 2015 season was always going to be the one I wanted to play a light schedule so I could kind of kind of recharge a bit and sort of get back to playing 20-plus tournaments from next year onwards.”

Ogilvy played at Chambers Bay in the U.S. Open (June 15-21) and then played in The Open (July 13-19) at St. Andrews. Nothing in between. He hasn’t played since The Open which was three weeks ago.

“So I played Chambers; played pretty well,” he said. “I had a few weeks off. Played St. Andrews; played pretty well. Neither result was amazing but I played quite well in both. I kind of (been) gearing up to play the next three weeks, and then kind of hopefully do well enough to have a big run through the playoffs. I was always meant to play a lighter scheduler this year. Hopefully I can finish well and get to all the playoffs.”

Ogilvy said his game is taking shape.

“Tee-to-green has been getting better every week,” he said. “Chambers Bay and St. Andrews I hit the ball as well as I could. The putting is coming around. If I have a week when I putt well, I’m going to do well, I think. My ball-striking has been quite consistently nice, not amazing, but good enough and getting better all the time.

“My putting’s been a bit hit and miss. But, again, it feels like it’s coming around. I feel like I’m doing good stuff. And I don’t think there’s any reason why I can’t, as you say, have a really good finish to the year. My game feels like it’s in a pretty good place.”

Stiff competition could come from both Brendan Steele and Jonathan Byrd, two guys who have experienced some success in Reno.

Steele has top-10 finishes in two of the last three Barracuda events. In 2012, he tied for eighth and in 2013 he was fourth. In 2014, he tied for 25th.

“I wouldn’t come back (here) if I didn’t like the course,” Steele said. “You’re a little more comfortable at courses where you’ve played well.

“I’m a West Coast guy, and I grew up in an area similar to this. I’m very comfortable on the greens here. I see the shape (of the shot) I need to play. This is the fourth year in a row I’ve played here. It still takes some effort because of the up and down (altitude changes and altitude in general). You’re still guessing sometimes.”

Steele said he’s skipped tournaments where he hasn’t played well.

Byrd tied for third last year and was second to Gary Woodland in 2013. He has two other top-25 finishes as well.

“I like the course and love the weather here,” Byrd said before his pro-am round on Wednesday. “I’ve needed to play well when I’ve come here (and he has). There aren’t too many guys that don’t like this course.

“The fairways aren’t real tight. I like the format. It allows you to play a little more aggressive.”

If you’re looking for a youngster to take center stage, keep an eye on Will Wilcox, Ollie Schneiderjans, Patrick Rodgers and Austin Cook.

Wilcox comes into the event with a full head of steam. Of his last 26 rounds, 23 have been sub-par. In the past three weeks, he tied for eighth at the John Deere Classic, drained a 55-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to finish second at the Barbasol event and tied for sixth at the Puerto Rico Open. He missed the cut last year in his initial Barracuda appearance.

Schneiderjans, who’s playing just his third tournament as a pro, finished 12th as an amateur at The Open, and the following week tied for 22nd at the Canadian Open and last week at the Quicken Loans National he tied for 15th.

Cook, who tied for seventh at the Canadian Open to get into the Barracuda Championship, is a conditional member of the web.com Tour. He has two top-10 finishes in just five PGA starts.

Rodgers, a former No. 1 amateur, has made nine cuts in 14 PGA starts this year, including a second-place finish at the Wells Fargo Championship. He’s currently 17th on the web.com Tour thanks to an early season win at the Colombia Championship.