RENO – The shot of the day Friday at the 19th annual Barracuda Championship belonged to Kevin Tway.
The son of Champions Tour player Bob Tway drove the downhill 359-yard par-4 14th and then drained a 9-foot putt for eagle en route to a 12-point day.
Tway, who didn’t score a point on Thursday, has used driver on the hole both days. He missed the green on Thursday, but hit a great shot Friday.
“There are no bunkers, just a hazard on the right,” Tway said. “The plan was to hit driver and take advantage of my length. It got my round going.
“Yesterday some greens were soft and some greens were firm. Today they were all soft. I got a couple of more putts to fall today.”
HOLE REPORT
The toughest hole on Friday was No. 5, a 491-yard par-4. It played to a 4.351. The second-toughest was No. 1, a 494-yard par that played to a 4.267.
The easiest hole on Friday was No. 13, a 514-yard par-5. It played to a 4.618. The second-easiest hole was the 2nd, a 584-yard par-5. It played to a 4.656.
The course has yielded 13 eagles thus far, four coming on No. 18 and three on No. 13.
DEFENDING CHAMPS
Of the defending champs in this year’s field, only three advanced.
Defending champ Greg Chalmers is at 11 points, Vaughn Taylor has 14, and Geoff Ogilvie has 11 after an 8-point day. Chalmers failed to score a point on Friday.
J.J. Henry and John Rollins finished at 9, one point off the cut line. Matt Bettencourt was minus-9.
WEATHER DELAY
Play was stopped for 77 minutes because of lightning and rain.
It was the first weather delay at Montreux since 2004, according to PGA Tour officials.
The PGA Tour has had 18 events suspended this season because of weather.
WI MAKES CUT
Former Nevada golfer Charlie Wi, who has missed the cut here the last three years, will play on the weekend.
Wi recorded 8 points on Thursday, and followed that up with another 8-point effort on Friday.
“I played conservative,” Wi said. “I wanted to get a lot of pars and throw in some birdies.”
Wi, after a poor tee shot, bogeyed the par-4 9th, his second bogey in his final nine holes.
He recorded five birdies and two bogeys.
VETERAN WINNERS
The previous two Barracuda winners – Henry and Chalmners – were both over 40 when they won in Reno.
Three players contending for the lead are over 40 – Appleby (2nd place) is 46, Greg Owen (tied for 3rd) is 45, and Dicky Pride (tied for 3rd) is 48.
TOP AMATEUR
Maverick McNealy was the only amateur to make the cut, totaling 12 points after 36 holes.
McNealy made his second cut of the season after missing the cut at the U.S. Open and the Open Championship. Previous to the Barracuda he tied for 44th at the John Deere Classic.
ETC …
Dru Love has now missed five straight cuts on the PGA Tour. His dad, Davis Love III, made the cut for the second time in three attempts in Reno … Seven players had bogey-free rounds – Dru Love, Ben Crane, Joel Dahmen, Harris English, Matt Every, Chesson Hadley and Peter Lonard.
