Barracuda Championship: JJ Henry has ‘good vibrations’ when he steps on to the tee Montreux

RENO — Good Vibrations is a Beach Boys hit, and it’s also the feeling J.J. Henry gets when he comes to town for the Barracuda Championship.

Henry, who won here in 2012 and 2015, is seeking to become the first three-time winner of the 18th annual event which kicks off today at Montreux Golf & Country Club.

Henry also has three top-10 finishes prior to his two victories. Quite simply, Henry may play this course better than any other on the PGA Tour.

“I like the sound of the defending champion to start off,” he said during his Wednesday press conference. “I love coming here. I’ve been here since 2001, since my rookie year.

“To be able to win an event now twice and a lot of other top finishes. For whatever reason I just get great vibes when I get off the plane and kind of drive up Mt. Rose Highway there and into Montreux. Just a cool event where obviously the community kind of embraces it. And it’s just a beautiful place.”

Henry’s win last year came in a two-hole playoff with Kyle Reifers, who outscored Henry 22-6 on the last day to force a playoff. Henry eagled the second playoff hole from just off the green to grab the win, as Reifers pulled his eagle attempt to the left.

“It’s funny, I looked up, I was in the last group on Sunday, I look up and Kyle was already done,” Henry said. “And he had scored X amount of points. And I was like: ‘Wow, something special must have really happened out there.’ I think I had to birdie maybe three of the last five holes to kind of force a playoff. I had a chance in regulation to hit a great shot in there and just missed an eagle to win it outright.

“Kind of a really neat playoff. It’s a great, kind of a dramatic hole (the 18th), par-5, dogleg left down the hill. We both hit great shots, both birdied the first playoff hole. And then to ice it, icing on the cake, if you will, to make an eagle putt from about 20 feet or so, just off the left fringe.”

Henry said the Stableford Format lends natural excitement.

“And it probably looked fun, but it was just one of those deals where it’s, when it’s your time, it’s your time,” he said. “And it was nice to be able to finish it off in exciting fashion like we did. Again, the way the event sets up with the system and the format and the scoring format, kind of bodes for a lot of excitement and stuff coming down the stretch.”

Henry admitted he hasn’t played his best golf this year. In 19 events, he’s made the cut 12 times. His best finish, however was a tie for 28th at the Players Championship. Still, there might be something to the magic he feels at Montreux.

“I haven’t had the best of years, to be honest with you; but, frankly, I really wasn’t playing, I’d say, great going into last year’s event.” Henry said. “Just things just seemed to turn for me. This is my 16th year out here. I know what to expect.

“The horses for courses, if you will. But you look over where guys tend to play well and what events and stuff, and there’s a lot to that.”

Henry pointed out the key to winning at Montreux is dealing with the altitude, figuring out the wind and holding your own on the greens.

“The greens can be kind of tricky, too,” he said. “You gotta kind of figure out the speed and the break, like anywhere, but seems to be more so here, get everything kind of running towards the valley and different things. So there’s a lot of X factors, if you will.”

Henry, however, isn’t the only guy in the field who has had success on the Jack-Nicklaus-designed layout. There are several players who have either won, or fared well, in the field.

One is 2013 champ Gary Woodland. He has three top-25s in his last four events. He tied for 21st last week at Quicken Loans. His length off the tee could equal eagles on the par-5s.

Martin Laird has never finished lower than sixth in three starts at Montreux. Reifers was second last year and has had three recent top-20 finishes.

Colt Knost tied for 10th here last year, and he has had two top-5s and two top-20s since the middle of April. Robert Garrigus has six straight top-25 finishes here, including a tie for 15th last year. Andres Romero has also had some success in Reno.

Another guy to keep an eye on is Brendan Steele, who has tied for eighth, seventh and 25th, and also has a solo fourth-place finish to his credit. He’s already won more than $1 million this season, and his best finish was a third at the CIMB event.

“I’m feeling good about my play the last couple of weeks,” Steele said Wednesday. “I just haven’t been able to finish it up after putting myself in good positions.

“It’s been a little bit of everything. I need to do the same things on Saturday and Sunday that I do on Thursday and Friday. Sometimes when you’re too careful you make mistakes.”

Steele said he needs to be more carefree than careful and worry less.