RENO — Tim Petrovic liked the way he started and finished his first round at the 17th Barracuda Championships.
Petrovic started with an eagle on No. 1, and quickly followed up with birdies on his next two holes to get it to plus-9. He didn’t have much luck on the back nine, registering two birdies, six pars and a bogey en route to an 11-point effort over the hilly Montreux Golf & Country Club course Thursday afternoon.
Petrovic sits in a tie for 11th place, seven points behind leader Zach Sucher, who recorder nine birdies and nine pars en route to an 18-point day.
“It’s a good start,” Petrovic said. “You try to get 10 a day.”
Petrovic said he didn’t even see his shot go into the hole on No. 1 because of the sun. He said the lack of points on the back side wasn’t because he was tentative.
“I hit a wedge, and I just saw it land on the green and roll,” Petrovic said. “I had a lot of opportunities out there. I felt I gave away a lot of points out there.”
Petrovic said he had chances to score points on Nos. 13 and 14. He 3-putted from 26 feet for a par on the par-5 13th, and then left a 10-foot birdie putt three feet short. He bogeyed the par-3 16th and finished his round by reaching the par-5 18th in two and two-putting from 18 feet for a birdie.
THE HOLE REPORT
The toughest two holes in Thursday’s first round was the par-4 17th followed by the par-3 2nd.
The 17th played to a 4.209 average, surrendering just 21 birdies. There were 67 pars, 34 bogeys and 10 double-bogeys. The third hole played to a 3.191, allowing just 14 birdies, 80 pars, 35 bogeys and three double-bogeys.
The two easiest holes were both par-5s, No. 2 and No. 18. The second hole played to a 4.659. There were two eagles, 50 birdies, 72 pars, seven bogeys and one double-bogey. The 18th played to a 4.550, giving up two eagles, 72 birdies, 40 pars, 12 bogeys and six double-bogeys.
The course played to an average of 71.023 or nearly a stroke below par.
HENRY LEADS FORMER CHAMPS
J.J. Henry had the best first round among former champs with 13 points which put him in a fourth-place tie with David Toms.
“Obviously a great start,” Henry said. “Have a lot of neat memories here, winning it back in 2012. and I’ve had a handful of other good finishes. I feel like I’ve figured out how to play this golf course. It’s so cool to be up here in the mountains. It’s probably the prettiest golf course we play all year.”
“This format, it’s important to kind of get off to a good start, build that momentum, and take some of the pressure off knowing you have to go out and make birdies. I made seven of them today and one little hiccup, a little 3-putt.”
Lefty Steve Flesch, who won in 2007, was next with 11 points. Chris Riley (9), John Rollins and two-time winner Vaughn Taylor (8), Scott Verplank and Matt Bettencourt (2), Parker McLachlan (1) and defending champ Geoff Ogilvy was at -minus 1, including a double-bogey at the par-5 18th.
THOUGHTS ON HIS SON
Former PGA champ David Toms’ son, Carter, had a big junior tournament which dad reluctantly missed to play in Reno this week.
“I just want to play well if I’m going to be away,” Toms said. “If I’m going to spend time out here, I’m going to work at it. I’m going to do the best I can and enjoy playing.”
Toms admits he’s excited about next week’s PGA Championship. Toms won the PGA in 2001.
“It’s a tough golf course,” Toms said. “I’ll have to bring everything I’ve got to have a chance there and see if I can build some confidence this week going into that.”
AROUND THE COURSE
Billy Mayfair turned 49 today and finished with 7 points. He had an eagle, three birdies and four bogeys on the day … Rookie Ollie Schniederjans aced the par-3 7th. It’s the ninth ace in tournament history. He had a rough day with three double-bogeys and two bogeys en route to a plus-2 round… The top 70 and ties advance to the weekend …A total of 103 players finished with a score of plus-1 or better.