Truckie, Calif. — Ryan Gerald has two seven-point birdie eagle bursts, overcoming five bogeys and first won the Barracuda Championship on Sunday on the PGA Tour.
The only PGA Tour event at Tahoe Mountain Club that uses the modified Stableford Scoring System, and in refreshing conditions at Tahoe Mountain Club, Gerard is Nos. I followed a 2-point birdie with 5 points, 2-3 and 10-11.
The 25-year-old former North Carolina player made the 13-point round to finish with 47 points with a three-point victory to beat South Africa’s 2021 winner Eric Van Louen. Gerald fell short of Van Louen’s tournament record with 50 points.
“I play a lot of really good golf,” Gerald said. “It felt like I wasn’t getting any scores from the shots I hit, and it took a long time.
He finished fifth in the event two years ago, and Gerald won his 47th PGA Tour and became the 999th winner in tour history.
“It’s like the pinnacle of lifelong work,” Gerald said. “I don’t know how many hours I spent hitting a golf ball with the dream of winning the PGA Tour. Yeah, that’s really special.”
The tournament, which took place on the other side of the Open Championship, was jointly approved by the European Tour. With the victory, Gerald received a spot for the PGA Championship next year, but not the Masters.
Van Luen spent 11 points day. He made a 20-foot Eagle putt on the par 5 on the 15th and 30-foot for birdie on the par 4 on the 18th.
“Mixed emotion,” said Van Luen. “I’m really happy with how I fought. I’ve left a shot on putter for the past few days, but I can’t expect to make it all.
England’s Todd Clements was third with 39 points after a 16-point round. Beau Hossler scored 17 points on Sunday, finishing fourth with 37 with Max McGreevy (16) and Jacques Kruyswijk (10).
Tied to Rico Wheely and a three-round lead, Gerald made a 20-foot Eagle putt on the par-5 third and drilled a hole in a 35-footer from the fringe in 11th place on par-5. On the 11th he hit the approach roughly, but was allowed to take the relief for the sprinkler’s head and move the ball to the fringe.
Gerald missed three footers for 16 with a 3-putt bogey following both 7-point runs, with a consecutive bogey at points where bogeys were deducted.
The winner made a 5-foot birdie putt at 14, regaining the points he lost in the bogeys in the previous two holes. He also quickly canceled back-to-back front nine bogeys on No. 7 birdie.
Gerald played for six consecutive weeks. This is the string that began with the US opening and took him to Scotland last week. He was 9th and 2nd in consecutive events in Texas in April.
After a scoreless round, Wheely was tied to 8th place with 34.