Gary Woodland relishing Reno-Tahoe Open title defence

Omnisports Pulse

July 29, 2014 2:01 AM

Gary Woodland returns to the scene of his second PGA Tour title on Thursday keen to recreate his record score at the Reno-Tahoe Open.

The event in Nevada is the only tournament on the PGA Tour that sees scores calculated using the modified stableford system.

Points are allocated based on the number of strokes taken at each hole, with birdies, eagles and albatrosses gaining significant reward and dropped shots prompting point deductions, and players compete to register the highest score possible.

Woodland, the world number 47, amassed 44 points last year to claim victory ahead of Jonathan Byrd and Andres Romero.

The 30-year-old has failed to claim another tournament win since then, with a second-placed finish in November's CIMB Classic his best result.

However, with this week's competition providing a break from the norm, the returning champion is looking forward to a different challenge.

"It's fun," said Woodland when speaking about the tournament. "It's nice to change it up.

"You get kind of the same thing week in and week out. It's nice to have a change.

"I think this is a great golf course for it [stableford scoring]. With the conditions playing how they are with the wind, it allows you to still be aggressive and not have to worry about losing too much ground."

Montreux Golf and Country Club hosts this year's event, which runs alongside the higher-profile WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and therefore offers an opportunity for players outside the top 50 of the world rankings to shine.

While golf's leading players will be absent, Padraig Harrington, winner of two Open Championships and the 2008 US PGA Championship, is among 14 major champions in the Reno-Tahoe field, with Retief Goosen and Davis Love III the latest to confirm their attendance.

Romero and Byrd are also in the field again, with the Argentine having finished in the top three for the past two years.

Byrd has produced the best 18-hole score at the event, having rocketed up the leaderboard courtesy of a plus-18 round in 2013.

Omnisports Pulse