2025 Barracuda Championship betting tips: Our expert’s top picks at Tahoe Mountain Club

Expert selected Barracuda Championship betting tips on the PGA Tour.

Our resident betting expert picks out his top Barracuda Championship betting tips ahead of the PGA Tour event.

With all eyes will understandably glued to Royal Portrush for the Open Championship this week, it’s easy to forget about the uniquely formatted event teeing off over in California.

The Barracuda Championship is the only event on the PGA Tour calendar that uses a Modified Stableford scoring system to determine its winner. The format encourages aggressive play, awarding the following points for hole scores: Double Eagle: 8 pts; Eagle: 5; Birdie: 2; Par: 0; Bogey: -1; Double Bogey or worse: -3.

Nick Dunlap topped the pile last time around, registering a second PGA Tour win, his first since turning professional, with a score of 49 points.

So, could there be some hidden value at this fifth and final opposite-field event?

I think so! But before all that, here’s everything else you need to know…

Barracuda Championship key details

Venue: Tahoe Mountain Club (Old Greenwood), Truckee, California (Par 71 – 7,480 yards)

Format: Modified Stableford

Purse: $4 million, with the winner receiving $720,000

FedEx Cup: 300 points

Favorites: Kurt Kitayama, Vincent Whaley, Ryan Gerard; 22/1,

Defending champion: Nick Dunlap (USA), 49 points

How to watch the Barracuda Championship

US viewers can catch all the action on the Golf Channel.

All times EDT

Thursday, July 17: The Golf Channel, 18.00
Friday, July 18: The Golf Channel, 18.00
Saturday, July 19: The Golf Channel, 18.00
Sunday, July 20: The Golf Channel, 18.00

UK viewers can catch all the action on Sky Sports Golf.

All times BST

Thursday, July 17: Sky Sports Golf, 22.00
Friday, July 18: Sky Sports Golf, 22.00
Saturday, July 19: Sky Sports Golf, 22.00
Sunday, July 20: Sky Sports Golf, 21.00

Barracuda Championship tee times

Tee times and groupings can be found here.

Barracuda Championship betting tips

The Longshot: Taylor Montgomery 80/1 e/w (Paddy Power, Sky Bet 6 Places)

Once touted as one of the most promising prospects from the Korn Ferry Tour, Taylor Montgomery suffered a tough time in 2024 and at the start of this year as well. The good news is, things are turning around, and it looks like he’s ready to get in the mix again.

Montgomery first joined the PGA Tour at the end of 2022, and he posted seven top 15 finishes in his first eight events. Everything looked rosy. He then started 2023 with a 12th in Hawaii and a 5th at the American Express, and then reality hit, and he struggled for top 10s after that. 2024 was awful aside from a T11 at the Players Championship, but now things are looking up as he’s posted two top-8 finishes in his last five starts, one on the Korn Ferry and one on the PGA Tour, and he’s made his last five cuts across both tours. Three of those have been on the PGA Tour, and almost all of it has been down to his putting, which has been his trademark, but when you are that reliable on the putting green, it doesn’t take much improvement in the ball-striking department to get in the mix.

He will need to improve off the tee and on approach, there is no doubt about that, but with a 36th in Canada, a 31st at the John Deere, and an 8th last week at the ISCO, he’s now trending into a run of form that could see him contend in an event like this.

He has not played in this event yet, but three of his four best PGA Tour starts, according to OWGR rankings, have come in California, as he finished 3rd at the Fortinet Championship, 5th at the American Express, and 11th at Torrey Pines in the Farmers Insurance Open. He also has another strong finish at the Farmers, finishing 13th, so clearly playing in this state brings the best out of him.

At 80/1, I will take a shot on one of the best putters in the field on his day, as making plenty of bonus putts is a big part of any player’s success here.

The Each Way Play: Erik van Rooyen 50/1 (BetMGM, Unibet 6 Places)

Erik van Rooyen isn’t in the best form, but we often see players with superior talent turn up in these events regardless of form, and I am counting on that being the case with van Rooyen.

The first reason for optimism is van Rooyen’s history in this event. The South African has already won at this event, back in 2021 and two years later he finished 6th on his next start in this event. As a player that would typically expect to be in the Open Championship, it’s great to see how well he plays here when he does have to drop down in class.

Another reason for confidence this week is van Rooyen ranking 22nd in Birdie or Better Percentage on the PGA Tour this season. In a Stableford format, the most important thing is that you have a player who can go low and make birdies and eagles, and bogeys are not punished in quite the same way they are in stroke play. This makes a player like van Rooyen, who is very volatile with his scoring, the perfect candidate for this test.

Diving deeper, van Rooyen’s form isn’t quite as bad as it appears either. Sure, he’s missed three of his last four cuts, but he bounced back from an opening 73 with a 68 last week in Scotland, in Canada he opened with a 67 so was 30th after round 1 before missing the cut, and at the Charles Schwab Challenge he shot rounds of 64 and 65, finishing 36th. It’s really not that long ago he finished 2nd in the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in a stronger field, and a week later he finished 34th in the Truist Championship, a Signature Event, but was inside the top 15 for the first two rounds. Simply put, he’s showing better signs than his final finishes suggest.

I trust van Rooyen to win in this level of field, and at 50/1, I think the value is reasonably eye-catching.

The Banker: Pierceson Coody 28/1 e/w  (Coral, Ladbrokes 7 Places)

Apparently not deterred by his performance at the John Deere Classic, I am going to give Pierceson Coody a chance to redeem himself at 28/1 in another weak field. This event is tailor-made for a player of his scoring ability, and I really think this could be a chance for him to break through.

After missing the cut by a distance at the John Deere it was business as usual for Coody who finished 4th on the Korn Ferry Tour last week, his four-straight top 7 finish at that level. The gap in quality between players on the Korn Ferry Tour and those in the field this week is razor thin and I think he can step up, as he did with back to back top 25 finishes at the Byron Nelson and the Charles Schwab.

He hasn’t played this event yet, but I suspect the Stableford scoring format will suit his playing style, and that is backed up by the fact he ranks inside the top 20 for Birdie Average on the PGA Tour over the past three months, albeit a small sample size of just 14 rounds. 61 birdies in that span though show you that he can score with the best of them, and that’s what he will need to do this week.

I am taking the upside on Coody, who threatened to win one of these opposite field events last year, when he ran Harry Hall the closest at the ISCO Championship. He skipped that event last week in favour of another run out on the Korn Ferry Tour, but this week he has a shot at an easier PGA Tour event again and I suspect he will play well.