LOS ANGELES: Chez Reavie grabbed five birdies with just one bogey to push his lead in the US PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship to six points over Scotland’s Martin Laird on Saturday.
Reavie, chasing a third US PGA Tour title and his first since 2019, put up a relatively modest total after scoring 19 points on Friday under the Modified Stableford scoring system that awards points for birdies and eagles and subtracts them for bogeys and worse.
“I hit the ball really well today for most of the day,” Reavie said. “Didn’t really make many putts, had a lot of good looks and fortunately made a few in the middle. Hit some bad shots coming in and was able to save some pars.
“Wasn’t quite all together today, but did everything well at different times.”
Laird finished strong on the Old Greenwood course at Tahoe Mountain Club, closing with three straight birdies in a 13-point round.
“Love this tournament,” Laird said. “Always like playing at altitude, love being in the mountains. I live in Denver, so it’s not strange for me with how far the ball goes. I kind of know my numbers at this altitude, which is nice.”
Sweden’s Alex Noren and Australian Cam Davis were tied for third on 28, both piling up 12 points.
American Brice Garnett and Sweden’s Henrik Norlander were tied on 27 points.
Reavie, 40, acknowledged that he would be feeling the tension as he sought to add to his tally of US tour titles.
“Definitely going to be some nerves in the morning, but (I’m) just going out and trying to hit good solid shots and give myself good looks, and if I make some putts, I’ll be in a good spot,” he said.
“Just looking to hit it in the fairways, knock it on the greens and give myself some looks.”
