After one round of play at the Barracuda Championship at Old Geeenwoood Golf Course, two players have emerged atop the leaderboard.

Ryan Moore and Adam Schenk had 14-point rounds under the modified Stableford scoring format, each carding seven birdies and no bogeys during the opening round of play on the par-71, 7,390-yard course.

“Yeah, it was tough,” said Moore, who sank a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-14 18th hole. “The wind was kind of up and down out there. So distance control was everything, and we did a really good job figuring out early in the week kind of what stock clubs are going up here, and we did a great job all day today of just getting it right around pin high and controlling our distances really well, which is just really important on a golf course like this.”

---

---

Under the Stablefored scoring format players receive 8 points for double eagle, 5 for eagle, 2 for birdie, zero for par, minus-1 for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse.

Moore, 37, has five career PGA Tour victories, and after missing cuts in his first three events following the outbreak of COVID-19, the former University of Nevada, Las Vegas standout tied for 40th two weeks ago in the Memorial in Ohio and tied for 12th last week in Minnesota.

---

---

“I thought I was more ready coming out of the quarantine than maybe I was,” said Moore. “I came out and kind of felt a little uncomfortable and just didn’t feel like myself for the first few weeks, so I kind of honed in on what I felt like I needed to do, and just been grinding on that for the last few weeks.”

Schenk, 28, has yet to pick up a win in his PGA career finished his round with birdies on the 8th and 9th holes to hold a share of the lead.

“Yeah, had a couple nice par saves, which always makes it easier to add up these points,” said Schenk. “You’re not going backwards at all, and hit a couple wedges close and pretty much kept it out of trouble. On this golf course you have to — there is some room to drive the golf ball, but if you do drive it considerably off the fairway you can find some trouble, but I stayed away from that today.”

This weekend marks the first time Old Greenwood has hosted the Barracuda Championship, which was held at Montreux Golf Course in Reno for the past 21 years.

“Yeah, I liked the last golf course, and I like this one a little better, in my personal opinion,” added Schenk. “But the format is fun to play, and I think everybody enjoys it. You make just as many birdies as bogeys and still be positive for the day, so it is weird looking at the scoreboard and seeing minus 4 and it’s not near the top of the leaderboard, so it’s kind of strange. It’s just a fun format to play really.”

Robert Streb, Seamus Power, and Patrick Rodgers are in a threeway tie for third place, having each scored 11 points. From there, seven players are tied for sixth place with 10 points, and five are tied for 13th with nine points.

The winner of the Barracuda Championship will claim a spot in the PGA Championship next week, if not already eligible. The top two from the top 10, not already eligible, will earn entry into the U.S. Open in September at Winged Foot.

The tournament will continue tomorrow with players teeing off at 7 a.m.

Justin Scacco is a reporter for the Sierra Sun. Contact him at jscacco@sierrasun.com or 530-550-2643.