Gerard holds off Van Rooyen to win PGA 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.
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