Stroud wins first career PGA tournament

Published 1:17 pm Monday, August 7, 2017

RENO, Nev. – Lamar University and Port Neches-Groves graduate Chris Stroud earned his first career victory on the PGA Tour over the weekend as he captured the Barracuda Championship.

Stroud, a two-time All-American and four-time Southland Conference champion during his time at LU, won a three-way playoff with Greg Owen and Richy Werenski to claim the title.

“Eleven years I’ve waited for that,” Stroud said when he was introduced as the champion. “So, it’s a dream come true.”

The win gave Stroud an automatic spot in this week’s PGA Championship in North Carolina. It also gives him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour as well as a spot in the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua, the start of the new year reserved for PGA Tour winners.

Stroud won’t have time to savor his victory, as the PGA Championship gets underway on Monday.

“I got my two baby girls — I was planning on going home because I wasn’t in the PGA Championship, going home to Houston and hanging with them for a week. But now I get to play Quail Hollow, which is an awesome, great golf course,” Stroud said after the win.

Stroud, who graduated from LU in 2004, has played in 290 PGA Tour events. He tied for first at the 2013 Travelers Championship before falling to Ken Duke on the second hole of a sudden-death playoff. He finished fifth at the 2007 Zurich Classic in New Orleans and tied for 10th at The Players Championship in 2010.

The Barracuda Classic used the modified Stable Scoring System, which gives five points for each eagle, two points for a birdie and no points for a par. It takes away one point for each bogey and deducts three points for a double bogey or worse. Stroud, Owen and Werenski each had 44 points after four rounds. Stroud surged from behind with three birdies and an eagle over the final four holes to get into the playoff, getting an eagle on the final hole. He won the title with a birdie on the second hole of the playoff.

With the win, Stroud jumped from 144th to 76th in the FedEx Cup standings. The top 125 golfers qualify for the FedEx Cup playoffs.