Gonzales, Steele share lead in Barracuda

RENO — Andres Gonzales used a record-setting round to vault up the leaderboard and into a share of the 36-hole lead at the 17th annual Barracuda Championship.

Gonzales, who opened with 5 points on Thursday, stormed back Friday with a one-day record of 21 points for a total of 26 and a tie with Brendan Steele after two rounds over the hilly Montreux Golf & Country Club layout.

Action gets under way at 7:45 a.m. today.

Gonzales and Steele lead former champ J.J. Henry and Jonas Blixt (24) by two points, while Kyle Reifers, after a 14-point day, is alone in fifth with 23 points. Veteran David Toms, who recorded nine points, is sixth at 22. Tom Hoge, first-round leader Zack Sucher, Jason Allred, Chris Smith, Robert Garrigus, Will Wilcox and Patrick Rodgers are tied for seventh at 21. Garrigus and Rogers both blew up on the 18th hole, costing them a chance at the top spot.

Gonzales shot a 62, which tied the tournament record for the best second round shared by Bill Glasson, Parker McLachlan and John Rollins. He had 11 birdies and one bogey.

“Yeah, today was a lot of fun,” Gonzales said. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my caddie, Brandon DeStefano. He did a lot of number figuring here. Playing at altitude here in Reno, early in the morning it can play a little bit less and then get to the afternoon and it can play a little bit more. I went off what he said and hit a lot of good putts today.

“Yeah, one round always does a lot on this tour. If you play really well, you can definitely jump up. That’s what I did today. I was very fortunate that I was able to make a lot of birdies. I made a lot of putts today and had a lot of fun.”

Gonzales drained a 3-footer on No. 12, a two-putt birdie from 32 feet on the par-5 13th, 17 feet on No. 14, a 26-footer on No. 16 and a 6-footer on No. 18. He chipped in from the primary rough on No. 1, knocked in 8-footers on Nos. 2 and 3, nailed a 9-footer on No. 6, a 12-footer on No. 7 and a 6-footer on No. 9.

A flubbed chip on No. 10, his first hole, led to his only bogey.

“Yeah, excited to get into the weekend,” he said. “So first time going into the weekend with a lead. Usually have had to play some catch-up in the past, so it’s going to be fun.”

Steele entered the day with eight points and put together an 18-point day, which included seven birdies, an eagle, and a bogey.

“For the most part felt like I played pretty well yesterday; just didn’t score quite as many points,” Steele said. “The ball kind of went into the hole today, so that was always nice.”

Steele had two two-putt birdies on par-5s (8 and 13) and then had birdie putts of 15, 3, 7, 2 and 2 feet, respectively.

His eagle came on the par-5 2nd. He hit a driver and then his 3-wood landed in the green side bunker. He holed the sand shot from approximately 49 feet.

Steele wasn’t surprised by his score. He knows the course and likes the course.

“I felt like I’ve been playing really well, been working really hard on my pre-shot routine and making sure that I get into every shot whether things are going good or bad,” he said. “That’s an area that I can really improve on, so that’s kind of the goal. Then you just kind of let the rest of it come to you.”

Henry, who won the tournament in 2012, was pleased with his 11-point day and 36-hole total of 24.

“Yeah, it’s nice to get off early with fresh greens and little wind,” Henry said. “It was kind of tricky with some rain and stuff, but the golf course was pretty soft and receptive, so if I kept the ball in play I gave myself a lot good chances.

“As I mentioned yesterday, I love coming here. I was fortunate enough to win here in 2012 and had a handful of other good finishes. For whatever reason the golf course kind of suits my eye and I just enjoy being out here kind of up through the trees and the mountains. Just a beautiful place to be this time of year.”

Henry canned birdie putts of 3, 5 and 11-feet, respectively, to get it to 17 points. He finished the front side with five straight pars. He birdied Nos. 10, 13, 15 and 18. His only bogey of the day came on the par-3 16th when he put his tee shot in the green side bunker.

All said, Henry is happy to be where he’s at.

“Like I said before, I was fortunate enough to win this tournament in 2012, so regardless of how you play, I’ve always got a lot of good memories and vibes and stuff,” Henry said. “In this format anything can happen obviously. Got to put the pedal to the metal, and that’s what I plan to do this weekend.”

Blixt has scored 12 points each day. He recorded seven birdies and two bogeys on Friday. He had two 10-footers, a 12-footer and a 30-footer.

“The last two rounds has been really good,” Blixt said. “I mean, I hit I think three, four shots a little squirrely, but the rest of them have been pretty good. Been putting pressure on the golf course, so it’s been really fun out there.

“Got my fair share of birdies these two days, and I’ll try to keep doing that.”

Reifers produced 14 points thanks to six birdies and an eagle on No. 18.

“I started off nice with three birdies in row to get the day going,” he said. “Greens were perfect this morning, so I felt like you could make some putts.

“Really just played solid. I made a couple bogeys on the back, but with this format it’s kind of funny. It just feels like a little slap on the wrist and (you) keep rolling. My mindset seems pretty good this week. I’m excited to be in the hunt and in the mix. In this format, like I said, anything can happen. It’s a really fun format.”