Gerard holds off Van Rooyen to win Barracuda title
The 25-year-old American, whose best career finish had been a runner-up effort at this year's Texas Open, eagled twice in the final round for the victory.
"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. It's really special."
Gerard edged Van Rooyen 47-44 under the Modified Stableford scoring system to capture the event at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, California.
Under the unique scoring format, an albatross is worth eight points, an eagle five and a birdie two. Pars are no points while a bogey is minus-one point and any worse score is minus-three points.
The tournament was played opposite the British Open, where top-ranked Scottie Scheffler won his fourth career major title and second major crown of the year.
Gerard, who shared the 54-hole lead on 34 points, added 13 points in the last round with two eagles, four birdies and five bogeys.
"I've been playing a lot of really good golf," Gerard said. "I've felt like I haven't been getting the scores out of the shots that I've hit and it has been a long time, a long grind. Yeah, it's pretty cool that I end up on top."
Van Rooyen, whose first PGA victory was at the 2021 Barracuda, settled for his second runner-up finish of the year after the CJ Cup Byron Nelson in May.
Filipino standout Rico Hoey and Gerard shared the 54-hole lead, but Hoey stumbled back with a double bogey-bogey start.
Gerard birdied the second hole and eagled the third, and answered bogeys at the fourth and fifth with a birdie at the seventh to stand on 41 with his nearest rival on the course, Van Rooyen, seven adrift.
After both birdied the 10th, Van Rooyen chipped in for birdie at 11.
Gerard, however, answered at 11 when, after getting relief from a sprinkler head in his stance that let him move his ball to the fringe, he curled in a long eagle putt to reach 48 points, 10 ahead of Van Rooyen.
Gerard made bogeys at 12 and 13 but responded with a birdie at 14 while Van Rooyen made bogey at 14 but eagled the par-five 15th to pull within six.
When Gerard made a three-putt bogey at the par-three 16th, his lead was down to 47-42.
Van Rooyen sank a birdie from the fringe at the 18 to climb within 47-44, but Gerard tapped in at 18 for par and the victory. — AFP
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
Australian Groves wins Tour de France stage 20
Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar was left standing on the cusp of a fourth Tour de France title as Alpecin rider Kaden Groves won Saturday's stage 20 after a long-range escape that saw the Australian finish well ahead of the big guns. Runaway overall race leader Pogacar maintained his lead over Jonas Vingegaard ahead of Sunday's 21st and final stage in Paris. The Team UAE rider has a 4min 24sec advantage heading into what could be a tricky finale, a 132km ride from Mantes-la-Ville to the Champs-Elysees, but featuring three ascents of the cobbled streets of Montmartre. A fourth title now looms for Pogacar who said after a dominant ride across the peaks and plains of France he felt he's won. 'It's starting to sink in,' said the 26-year old, who previously won the sport's most prestigious cycling stage race in 2020, 2021 and 2024. 'Tomorrow, all being well, I'll be celebrating with my team,' added a weary Pogacar. 'This has been another level of hard, all the way. I enjoyed it though and I'm really looking forward to the last day tomorrow.' FIFTH STAGE TILT Pogacar refused to rule out a tilt at a fifth stage win if he could escape up the climbs to Montmartre. 'We'll see how we feel and how the others act, maybe we'll try something in Montmartre.' The champion-in-waiting was left shaking his head after almost getting taken down in a fall 500m from the line on Saturday as lashing rain made the roads hazardous on the run in to Pontarlier. This was a third stage win for Alpecin after Jasper Philipsen and Mathieu van der Poel took the two opening wins. 'They gave me a free role in the final days,' Groves said after both Philipsen and Van der Poel pulled out. 'I'm going to enjoy this one and celebrate with my team and enjoy the Champs tomorrow.' Just 158 riders crossed the rolling hills at the foot of the Jura and many looked haggard after the fast racing in the Alps. So along the Swiss border, most of the peloton seemed happy to let an escape get a 7min lead after an exhausting slog that started July 5. Pogacar has dominated the 2025 Tour winning stages on rolling runs in the north and west at Rouen and the Mur de Bretagne in the first week, then on the mountain slopes of the Pyrenees on the Hautacam and Peyragudes in week two. As the Tour entered its end game Pogacar unexpectedly sat tight to protect his lead through the Alps rather go on his trademark all out attacks. Vingegaard, the 2022 and 2023 Tour champion, had two off days, first on a time trial and secondly at Hautacam, leaving Pogacar to surge into a lead he never looked like surrendering. Pogacar said he'd be back on the bike by Tuesday. 'I travel home Monday. Tuesday I'll be going out for a ride with friends, stop somewhere for a coffee and start enjoying the summer, I've earned it.' Pogacar will be back in competitive action in September at Kigali, Rwanda, in defence of his world title. — AFP
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
India to face Pakistan in UAE at Asia Cup cricket
New Delhi: The United Arab Emirates will host this year's T20 Asia Cup tournament in September, organisers said on Saturday, ending the uncertainty over its fate amid spiralling tensions between India and Pakistan. The neighbours have not met on either side's soil in a bilateral series since 2012, and only play each other in international tournaments on neutral grounds as part of a compromise deal. But already-frosty relations took a turn for the worse this year when the two nuclear rivals fought an intense four-day conflict, their worst standoff in decades. More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides. The conflict was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing — a charge Islamabad denies. The Asia Cup is played under the aegis of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), which is currently headed by Pakistan cricket chief Mohsin Naqvi. "I am delighted to confirm the dates for the ACC Men's Asia Cup 2025 in UAE," said Naqvi on X. "The prestigious tournament will take place from September 9th to 28th." Later Naqvi released the group stage fixtures with Afghanistan to take on Hong Kong in the tournament opener on September 9. India to face Pakistan in UAE at Asia Cup cricket The much-anticipated India and Pakistan will clash on a Sunday. India and Pakistan have been clubbed in group A with hosts UAE and Oman. The group stage will be followed by a Super Four stage and the final on September 28. The five full members of the ACC — Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka — earned automatic qualification to the tournament. They are to be joined by Hong Kong, Oman and the UAE — the teams that secured their spots by finishing in the top three of the ACC men's Premier Cup. The previous edition of the event was in a 50-over format, but this year's tournament was scheduled as a shorter-format event in preparation for next year's T20 World Cup in India. India and Pakistan have fought three full-fledged wars since being carved out of the subcontinent's partition in 1947 and that rivalry is often reflected on the cricket field. — AFP
Observer
2 days ago
- Observer
Fritz falls as Raducanu and Fernandez win at DC Open
WASHINGTON: US top seed Taylor Fritz dropped an early on Saturday morning marathon to Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina while Britain's Emma Raducanu and Canada's Leylah Fernandez reached the semifinals of the ATP and WTA DC Open. World number four Fritz, two points from victory in the ninth game, dropped the last five games in falling to the 26th-ranked Spaniard 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-5 after three hours and five minutes in a match ending just before 2:00 am. Davidovich Fokina advanced to a Saturday semifinal against US fourth seed Ben Shelton, who beat sixth-seeded hometown hero Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (7/2), 6-4. Fritz, who had 20 aces and six double faults, served for the match in the ninth and was up 30-0 but lost, then failed to take advantage of three double faults by Davidovich Fokina in the 10th game. The other men's semi-final will send French lucky loser Corentin Moutet against Australian seventh seed Alex De Minaur, who eliminated American Brandon Nakashima 6-4, 6-4. Moutet withstood leg cramps to eliminate eighth seed Daniil Medvedev 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. "I tried to survive every point because it was hard physically," Moutet said after fighting off leg cramps. "I'm just proud of myself." Raducanu reached the brink of her first WTA final since winning the 2021 US Open, ousting Greece's Maria Sakkari 6-4, 7-5. And Fernandez, whom Raducanu beat in that Flushing Meadows championship match, reached the other semi-final by dispatching American Taylor Townsend 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). Raducanu, who missed most of 2023 after hand and ankle surgery and part of last year with a left foot injury, reached her first WTA semifinal since last year at Nottingham by dispatching Sakkari in sweltering conditions of 95F (35C). "It was one of the toughest matches conditions-wise I've ever played in," Raducanu said. "Those points in the second set, I was getting a bit wobbly I'm just happy I could close it out and it was two sets. "I think the humidity here, as well, it just makes it feel completely like you have just opened an oven and it just stayed open and your head is in there. That's how it feels." Left-hander Fernandez overcame leg cramps in the second set in advancing to face third seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, who beat Polish fifth seed Magdalena Frech 6-3, 6-3. Raducanu will next face Anna Kalinskaya, who defeated Danish fourth seed Clara Tauson 6-3, 7-5. Raducanu, Britain's first women's Grand Slam singles champion since Virginia Wade in 1977 at Wimbledon, beat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the second round before downing Sakkari after a medical timeout in the second set. "Brutal conditions. Right in the peak heat of the day. It was incredibly difficult," Raducanu said. "I had to call a doctor on. Wasn't feeling too good in the second set. "When it's at that stage you know you're going to suffer and you have to just go until you physically can't anymore. It could be a little dangerous but you just leave it all out there on the court as an athlete." BENCHMARK WIN Raducanu rallied to win the final five games of the match, calling it a "big benchmark" to reach the semis. "You get to a point where you're so tired that you don't really know what you're doing anymore, and I think maybe that helped," Raducanu said. Fernandez called it a "good steppingstone" to reach the semis, fight off leg cramps to break Townsend on her eighth chance in the 10th game to reach 5-5 on the way to victory. "It was definitely an adventure," Fernandez said. "This was the first time I've had to go through this. I'm proud I was able to stay mentally tough." — AFP
