Ryan Gerard wins the Barracuda Championship for his first PGA Tour title
In breezy conditions at Tahoe Mountain Club in the only PGA Tour event that uses the modified Stableford scoring system, Gerard followed a two-point birdie with a five-point eagle on Nos. 2-3 and 10-11.
The 25-year-old former North Carolina player had a 13-point round to finish with 47 points for a three-point victory over 2021 winner Erik van Rooyen of South Africa. Gerard fell short of van Rooyen's tournament record of 50 points.
'Been playing a lot of really good golf,' Gerard said. 'Felt like I haven't been quite getting the scores out of the shots that I've hit. It's been a long time being a long grind, and it's pretty cool to end up on top.'
Fifth in the event two years ago, Gerard won in his 47th PGA Tour start to become the 999th winner in tour history.
'It's just like a culmination of a lifetime of work,' Gerard said. 'I can't tell you how many hours I've spent hitting golf balls dreaming of winning on the PGA Tour. Yeah, it's really special.'
Played opposite the British Open, the tournament was co-sanctioned by the European tour. With the victory, Gerard received a spot in the PGA Championship next year but not the Masters.
Van Rooyen had an eight-point day. He made a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 15th and a 30-footer for birdie on the par-4 18th.
'Mixed emotions,' van Rooyen said. 'Really happy with how I fought. Left some shots out there the last few days unfortunately with the putter, but can't expect to make everything, right? So maybe I'm a bit too hard on myself.'
Todd Clements of England was third with 39 points after a 16-point round. Beau Hossler scored 17 points Sunday to tie for fourth at 37 with Max McGreevy (16) and Jacques Kruyswijk (10).
Tied for the third-round lead with Rico Hoey, Gerard made a 20-foot eagle putt on the par-5 third and holed a 35-footer from the fringe on the par-5 11th. On the 11th, he hit his approach into the rough, but was allowed to take relief and move his ball to the fringe because of a sprinkler head.
Gerard followed both seven-point runs with consecutive bogeys — with a point deducted for bogey — and missed a 3-footer on 16 for a three-putt bogey.
The winner made a 5-foot birdie putt on 14 to get back the points he lost with the bogeys on the previous two holes. He also quickly canceled out the consecutive front-nine bogeys with a birdie on No. 7.
Gerard played for the sixth straight week — a string that began with the U.S. Open and took him to Scotland last week. He was ninth and second in consecutive events in Texas in April.
Hoey tied for eighth at 34 after a scoreless round.
___
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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