Mac Meissner had eight birdies in a 16-point round Friday to take the second-round lead in the Barracuda Championship, the only DP World Tour and PGA TOUR event that uses the Modified Stableford scoring system.
Meissner birdied five of his first seven holes and capped the round with a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth on Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood layout.
“I’ve driven it well,” said 25-year-old Meissner. “Taken advantage of a lot of good iron shots. It was nice to see a couple of putts fall today. It’s been frustrating the last month or so.”
Meissner had 26 points for a one-point lead over J.J. Spaun, with players receiving eight points for a double eagle, five for eagle and two for birdie. A point is deducted for bogey and three for double bogey.
“I think it allows you to be a little bit more aggressive just because of birdies are worth more than a bogey hurts you,” Meissner added.
“I definitely have been a little bit more aggressive to tucked pins than I probably would normally be on a Friday or coming into the weekend.”
Spaun had a 13-point day. He won the 2022 Valero Texas Open for his only PGA TOUR title.
Canadian Taylor Pendrith, Sean O'Hair and Chan Kim had 24 points, one more than Max Greyserman and S.H. Kim.
Pendrith — at No. 36, the highest-ranked player in the FedEx Cup standings in the field — won at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson in May for his first PGA TOUR title.
South Africa's Jayden Schaper is the best-placed DP World Tour member on the leaderboard after scoring 11 points for the second day running to move into a tie for 8th.
First-round leader Ben Silverman tumbled into a tie for 34th with 16 points, losing three points in the round. Playing in the final group of the day off the first tee, the Canadian had five bogeys and one birdie.
