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Lobo Amat to play at this week's PGA Tour event, the Barracuda Championship
UNM’s Bastien Amat was named Mountain West Golfer of the Year on Wednesday.
TRUCKEE, Calif. – University of New Mexico rising senior Bastien Amat will make his PGA Tour debut at the Barracuda Championship, held Thursday-Sunday on the Old Greenwood Course of the Tahoe Mountain Club. Amat, who will compete in the event as an amateur, received a sponsor’s exemption into the field after winning the Wolf Pack Classic last fall in nearby Reno.
The event is co-sponsored by the DP World Tour, as part of the partnership between the two tours. It marks the second straight year a current Lobo has competed at the Barracuda Championship. Last year Albert Boneta made his PGA Tour debut at the event after he was medalist at the 2021 Wolf Pack Classic.
The Barracuda Championship is the only PGA Tour event each year to use the Modified Stableford scoring system in which players earn points for birdies and eagles and lose points for bogeys. It is the second professional event of the summer for Amat, who qualified for last month’s US Open in Los Angeles. He shot 73 in each of the first two rounds and missed the cut in his major championship debut.
The Barracuda Championship is an Alternate Field Event on the PGA Tour, held at the same time as British Open.
LPGA: In Midland, Mich., Matilda Castren and Kelly Tan shot a 6-under 64 in alternate-shot play Wednesday to take the first-round lead in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s lone team event.
Castren, from Finland, and Tan, from Malaysia, birdied the final two holes and four of the last six at Midland Country Club.
“I felt like we jelled really well today, honestly,” Tan said. “She struck the ball so good. I had the chance to make the putt. And, I mean, I think vice versa. We both played pretty good today. There’s no complaints.”
They had a bogey-free round.
“I think she hit the ball really well today, too,” Castren said. “So that definitely gave me a lot of comfort. I knew she was going to hit it close.”
Celine Boutier and Yuka Saso were a stroke back at 65 with the teams of Celine Borge-Polly Mack and Paula Reto-Amelia Lewis.
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“We’re happy,” Saso said. “I feel like we did have some really good saves, and I think any time you can be bogey-free, it’s a good day.”
Swedes Linnea Strom and Linnea Johansson were at 66 with the Chinese duo of Yu Liu and Ruixin Liu.
“We hit all fairways and I think that was a good highlight of the day, hitting all fairways,” Johansson said. “It’s not easy in alternate shots to do that.”
Lexi Thompson and Brooke Henderson struggled, shooting a 73 that left them tied for 46th. Thompson has gone four years since her last victory.
The teams will play better-ball Thursday, alternate shot Friday and better-ball Saturday, with the tournament ending a day earlier than usual to give players an extra day to get to France for the Evian Championship.
