Greg Chalmers closes on US PGA Tour win

Greg Chalmers has extended his lead to six points in the US PGA Tour's modified Stableford event.

Australian golfer Greg Chalmers

Greg Chalmers has extended his lead to six points in the US PGA Tour's modified Stableford event. (AAP)

Australia's Greg Chalmers is trying to leave his rivals behind in the US PGA Tour's Barracuda Championship and not get too far ahead of himself.

The left-hander birdied five of the final six holes on Saturday (Sunday AEST) at Montreux to increase his lead to six points over Ben Martin and Gary Woodland in the modified Stableford scoring event.

"It's a necessity at this level if you want to be successful," said Chalmers, the 42-year-old Australian who leads active PGA Tour players in starts without a victory at 385.

Chalmers had seven birdies and a bogey for a 15-point round and 39-point total in the scoring system that awards eight points for double eagle, five points for eagle, two points for birdie and deducts a point for bogey and three points for double bogey or worse.

"There's a long way to go, and there's plenty of players capable of shooting a lot of points out here," Chalmers said.

"This golf course can give you a lot of points, if you drive it well, get it into play, start making a few putts."

The scoring system awards aggressive play.

In conventional scoring, Chalmers was 16 under with rounds of 67, 68 and 65.

Martin was 15 under, and Woodland 13 under.

Chalmers has only conditional tour status.

He has made six starts this season on the PGA Tour, tying for 58th in the first in China in November and missing the cut in the rest, and also has played nine Web.com Tour events.

Martin had eight birdies in a 16-point round, the best score of the week.

Woodland had an 11-point round, including birdies on all four par-5 holes for the 2013 champion.

Chalmers, Martin and most of the players are fighting for a spot in the British Open in two weeks at Royal Troon in Scotland.

Because of the West Virginia floods that led to The Greenbrier Classic being cancelled next week, a spot was transferred to the leading player not already eligible at Montreux.

Woodland was the only player in the top 23 who has already qualified for the Open.


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Source: AAP



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