Ogilvy back to defend Barracuda crown
RENO — Defending champion Geoff Ogilvy will be in the field when the 17th Barracuda Championship gets under way Thursday at Montreux Golf & Country Club.
There are eight other past champions in the field — Scott Verplank (2000), Chris Riley (2002), Vaughn Taylor (2004-05), lefty Steve Flesch (2007), Parker McLachlin (2008), John Rollins (2009), Matt Bettencourt (2010) and J.J. Henry (2012).
Ogilvy won by five points, 49-44, over Justin Hicks. Ogilvy was in double digits in points in three of the four rounds. Jon Byrd and John Huh tied for third at 37 points, while veteran Rod Pampling was solo fifth at 36. Jason Allred and Martin Laird tied for sixth at 35 points.
The 72-hole event is played under the Stableford format, which rewards aggressive play. You get eight points for a double eagle, five for an eagle, two for a birdie, zero for a par, minus-1 for a bogey and minus-3 for a double-bogey or worse.
This is the third year of the Stableford scoring. Henry won in 2012 with 43 points, edging Alexandre Rocha by a single point, and Gary Woodland won in 2013 with 44 points, beating Byrd and Andres Romero by nine points,
Action starts Monday with the ElDorado Pro-Am, and there will also be pro-ams on Tuesday and Wednesday. Tickets can be purchased at northern Nevada Raleys stores, and they can also be purchase daily at Montreux.
Dorn’s 5 RBI helps lead Aces to win in El Paso
EL PASO, TEXAS — Big games from Danny Dorn and Matt Pagnozzi led the Reno Aces to an 8-4 win over the El Paso Chihauhuas Saturday night at Southwest University Park in El Paso.
Dorn’s 5-RBI night started early when he roped a two-run double to right-field in the top of the first inning to give the Aces an early 3-0 lead.
The Chihuahuas got a run back off Aces starter Allen Webster in the home half of the opening inning on Cody Decker’s RBI double.
Pagnozzi led off the second with a solo blast to left, his fourth of the season to up the lead to 4-1.
A lead-off hit from Nick Evans, and a walk issued to Jamie Romak, gave the Aces a pair of runners for Dorn in the third. He hit the first pitch he saw from Jason Lane over the right-field wall for a three-run homer and a 7-1 lead.
Webster worked around trouble with the big lead. In three of the first four innings, the right-hander stranded a pair of runners. He racked up eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings and picked up his third win of the year.
