Ryan Gerard's Decision to Skip British Open Had Huge Payoff

Gerard was the second alternate for the British Open, but after texting Ben Griffin, decided to commit to playing in the PGA Tour's Barracuda Championship. And then he won it.

Ryan Gerard got his first PGA Tour win at the Barracuda Championship. / Aaron Doster-Imagn Images

After a 74th-place finish at the Genesis Scottish Open, Ryan Gerard faced a vexing decision. 

Stick around to potentially play in the British Open? Or fly halfway across the world to Lake Tahoe for a guaranteed tee time?

The latter was a spot in the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship, which played concurrently with the year’s final major as an opposite-field event. Gerard was a high-ranking alternate for the British Open. A few withdrawals, and he was in the field. 

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Ultimately, he hopped on a flight to California. 

“It was a tough one,” Gerard said Saturday, “because if I skipped going and missed out on a major would’ve been a kick in the pants for sure.”

Gerard arrived in the Golden State at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday and didn’t sleep much. By that afternoon, there were discussions of flying overseas again. 

“Got up to the second alternate for the British Open on like Tuesday midday-ish,” Gerard said. “There was some conversations as to whether we should fly back and try and wait to out.”

Staying put was the right decision, though. Gerard won the Barracuda for his maiden PGA Tour title—and a $720,000 prize—and he also wouldn’t have gotten into the field at Royal Portrush. 

A breakthrough at @CudaChamp 🤩

The first winning moment for Ryan Gerard. pic.twitter.com/WtVIBSwZDG

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) July 21, 2025

And he can partially thank his former University of Carolina teammate, Ben Griffin. Gerard texted the two-time Tour winner early in the week asking, “Is it worth flying to Portrush from the U.S. as a second alt, or first?” Griffin replied, “Nah go win Tahoe.”

Indeed he did. 

And Gerard is ecstatic about how everything worked out. 

“I would’ve been pissed if I had gotten in the Open and wasn’t there,” the 25-year-old said after the win. “Had a really good talk with everyone kind of on my team. … Just figured I really like this golf course. I’ve played well in this area. Feel like it suits my game nicely. 

“To go out there and take advantage of the opportunities that you do have because you don’t know how many more you're going to get. Glad we made that decision. It was a tough one, but took advantage of the opportunity.”