Emiliano Grillo, who is seeking his second career USPGA Tour title, scored 17 points on Friday to grab the second-round lead at the Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California.
Grillo boosted his two-day total to 29 points for a two-point lead over American Adam Schenk on the Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course.
“Left a lot of putts short today,” said Grillo, who won the 2016 Frys.com Open for his lone victory. “It could have been really good out there. Hit the ball well. Kept the ball in the fairway. Gave myself chances for eagles on the par fives, which is kind of the key for this format.”
Grillo’s bogey-free round included an eagle and a half-dozen birdies in the tournament, which uses the modified Stableford scoring system.
Players receive eight points for an albatross, five for eagle, two for birdie and none for par. A point is subtracted for a bogey, and three points are taken away for a double-bogey or worse.
Schenk eagled the par-five 6th en route to a 19-point round.
“Just really have been driving the ball really well the last couple of days,” Schenk said. “Make a few putts, hit a few wedge shots close. Take care of the par fives. It’s definitely out there for you.”
First-round lead Joel Dahmen was three points back at 26 after a 10-point round. Andrew Putnam, Scott Piercy and Scott Harrington had 25 points.
At times, the players had trouble seeing the ball in the air because of smoke from nearby wildfires.
“You could see it take off, and some holes you could see it land and roll. But the nice thing was the wind stayed down because it was down in the morning,” said Piercy.
© Agence France-Presse
