In the wake of his 74th-place finish at the Genesis Scottish Open two Sundays ago, Ryan Gerard had a difficult decision to make.

As a high-ranking alternate on the Open Championship’s stand-by list, Gerard, then the 75th-ranked player in the world, had a reasonable chance of getting his name called to play in his first-ever Open. Trouble was, that same week the 25-year-old also was scheduled to play in the PGA Tour’s opposite-field event, the Barracuda Championship.

The Barracuda, which, for the record, has no connection to deep-sea fishing or Pat Benatar (it’s named for a security company), is a long way from the Open, both literally and figuratively. The host site, Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, Calif., is about 5,000 miles from this year’s Open venue, Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. The Barracuda’s $4 million purse was $13 million less than what the Open offered, and the Barracuda also represents the rare week on Tour when high scores are better than low. (The tournament’s modified-stableford format doles out points for birdies and eagles and deducts them for bogeys and worse.)

Anyway, decision time for Gerard: hang out in the U.K. and hope his ticket got pulled sometime between the Monday and early-Thursday morning of Open week at Portrush, or pack his bags for Tahoe for a guaranteed tee time at the Barracuda.  

After some soul searching, Gerard elected option 2, hopping a flight to Cali that got him in at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday. “It was something my caddie, agent, family, team, everyone agreed with,” Gerard said later. “Go where you feel comfortable. Know you have a tee time on Thursday and just trust it and go make the most of an opportunity.”

But Gerard still couldn’t help thinking, what if? — especially after Ernie Els and Paul Waring’s Open withdrawals bumped Gerard into the second-alternate spot. Just two more scratches and he’d be in. “There was some conversations as to whether we should fly back and try and wait it out,” he said. “I would’ve been pissed if I had gotten in the Open and wasn’t there.”

On the flip side, Gerard saw the upside of staying stateside. He has played well in the Barracuda, finishing 5th in 2023. He likes the course. The area. The vibe. There’s also this: “I love playing golf,” he said, “so I figured I might as well play this week.”

Good call? Nah, great one.

Gerard grabbed a share of the Barracuda lead through three rounds, then stepped on the gas early in the final round with a five-point eagle on the par-5 3rd, a feat he would repeat on the par-5 11th. Gerard’s 13-point Sunday was good enough to secure him (by three points) his first PGA Tour win and elevate him to 28th in the FedEx Cup standings.  

Given the Barracuda is an “additional field” event, the victory earned Gerard a spot in the PGA Championship next year, but none of the other majors, meaning he’ll need to find another route to play in his first Open Championship.  

Still, the win was a deeply satisfying way to cap an eventful and stressful week.    

“I’m glad we made the right decision,” he said. “It was a tough one, but took advantage of the opportunity.”

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