Ben Martin Leads Barracuda Championship with 16 Points
In a standout performance, Ben Martin positioned himself at the top of the Barracuda Championship with a score of 16 points, surpassing David Lipsky and Nick Watney by two. The event, which uses the modified Stableford scoring system, takes place at the Tahoe Mountain Club, a course located at 6,000 feet of altitude. The scoring system awards eight points for a double eagle, five for an eagle, and two for a birdie. On the other hand, one point is deducted for a bogey and three for a double bogey. Martin, after recovering from some bogeys on holes 6 and 7, achieved birdies on holes 8 and 9, finishing his morning round with an excellent performance.The tournament, which is played simultaneously with the British Open, is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour of Europe. David Lipsky, for his part, accumulated 15 points in his first nine holes, but suffered a setback on the 2nd hole after his approach bounced off a sprinkler and caused him problems.To be honest, warming up on the field this morning, it was cold. I’m getting older. It’s difficult to keep my body moving. I had very few expectations, but I went out, hit the ball in front of me, more or less hitting towards where I was looking and made some early putts. I saw them going in, so I was confident with the putter.
Ben Martin
Lipsky birdied the 3rd hole and parred the remaining six. In the first nine holes, he eagled the 15th hole and had five birdies, achieving a 7-under-par 29. Cameron Champ, Rico Hoey, Joel Dahmen, Danny Walker, Dale Whitnell, and Todd Clements are three points away. Andrew Putnam, winner in 2018, was at 12 points, along with Jackson Suber, Yuto Katsuragawa and Vince Whaley. Max Homa lost a point, while current champion Nick Dunlap and Michael La Sasso, NCAA champion, struggled in the afternoon. Dunlap lost six points and Sasso, who is playing with a sponsor exemption, lost seven. The German twins Yannik and Jeremy Paul also got off to a slow start. Yannik has zero points and Jeremy lost two.It bounced on the green. It was difficult to even make bogey from there. So, a bit unlucky there, but overall a good day.
David Lipsky
