Ben Martin leads the Barracuda championship from PGA Tour

Truckee, California-Ben Martin scored 16 points on Thursday, after the first round of the Barracuda championship, the only PGA tour event that the modified Stableford scoring system uses with two points in David Lipsky and Nick Watney.

The players get eight points for a double eagle, five for an eagle and two for a birdie. One point is deducted for Bogey and three for a double bogey.

Martin recovered from Bogeys to No. 6-7 with birdies to No. 8-9 to close his morning round in the Tahoe Mountain Club, the Baumstrasse, which is located at an altitude of 6,000 feet.

“To be honest to warm up on the reach this morning, it's cold. I get old. It is difficult to keep my body moving well,” said the 37-year-old Martin, whose only PGA tour came in Las Vegas in 2014.

The tournament was played compared to the British Open and is co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour in Europe. The winner comes to the PGA championship, but not to the masters.

Lipsky scored 15 points in his first nine holes and then fell by three points on the Par-4 second after his approach bounced into difficulties from a Greenside sprinkler.

“On the green over the green,” said Lipsky. “It was difficult to even make Bogey from there. So, a bit unhappy, but overall a good day.”

He burged the third of the Par-5 and distributed the final Six. In the first nine he was the Par-5 15th and had five birdies in a 7-below 29.

The 44-year-old Watney won the last of his five PGA touring titles in 2012.

Cameron Champ was three points at 13 with Rico Hoey, Joel Dahmen, Danny Walker, Dale Whitnell and Todd Clements. Andrew Putnam, the 2018 winner, was at 12 with Jackson Suber, Yuto Katsuragawa and Vince Whaley.

Max Homa lost a point and fought in the afternoon next to the defending champion Nick Dunlap and Michael La Sasso from Mississippi. Dunlap lost six points, and Sasso – playing a sponsorship – seven.

The German twins Yannik and Jeremy Paul also started the first slow start. Yannik has no points and Jeremy lost two. They played in college in Colorado.