Ryan Brehm Saves His Job on PGA Tour By Winning Puerto Rico Open
RIO GRANDE, Puerto Rico — Needing to win or finish solo second to retain PGA Tour status, Ryan Brehm went out Sunday and ran away with the Puerto Rico Open for his first tour title.
With wife Chelsey at his side as his caddie, the 35-year-old Brehm birdied five of the first 11 holes at windy Grand Reserve and beat Max McGreevy by six strokes.
Three-strokes ahead entering the day, Brehm shot a 5-under 67 to finish at 20-under 268 in the make-or-break final start on a minor medical extension. He got the extension after he had to withdraw from the Zurich Classic last year because of COVID-19.
“It might sound like Bill Belichick or Nick Saban here, but honestly, wasn’t thinking about the impact of my status or anything this week,” Brehm said. “I think that’s probably the real lesson here. I have people on my team that will do that for me. Really, I just need to put my head down and hit good golf shot after good golf shot. That’s my job and I’m going to trust people around me to do their job and they can take care of all those details for me.”
With the event played opposite the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, Fla., Brehm received a two-year exemption and a spot in the PGA Championship, but will not be exempt for the Masters. The 6-foot-4 former Michigan State player won in his 68th start on the tour. He’s ranked 773rd in the world.
The Brehms became the first husband-wife caddie team to win since Justine and Patrick Reed in the 2013 Wyndham Championship.
“Our goal coming into this week was just to improve every day, every shot, every round, every hole,” Brehm said. “We committed to that and I can say that it worked this week. I think it took a lot of mental discipline, took a lot of conversing. It was great having Chels up there with me caddying. It was a special week. I don’t know, there was just something special about it from the moment we landed.”
Brehm also earned a spot next week in the Players Championship.