By Jed Blackwell, Associate Editor-Publisher, The Golf Club

On the 72nd hole of the BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD Synnex, Ryan Gerard had a little work to do.

The University of North Carolina product had flown the green at Thornblade’s par-4 18th, then nearly made a 75-footer for birdie. That first putt from just off the green had a bit too much pace, leaving Gerard about seven feet coming back for his par.

He calmly drilled it in the middle of the cup for a par.

The only drama in the putt was whether Gerard could avoid bogey for the 37th straight hole, dating back to his 17th hole on Friday. The tournament win had long since been in his pocket.

Gerard fired a four-day total of 26-under par for his first Korn Ferry Tour win, carding a final-round 66 to beat second-place Seth Reeves by six strokes. 

“It’s pretty special,” Gerard said. “It’s pretty unbelievable. I didn’t really know how many shots I had until 17 green, so when I saw that I figured I could get in the house from there. It’s cool to go bogey-free on the weekend.”

Gerard jumped out to the lead thanks to a sizzling Saturday round. Gerard started Sunday at 21-under after carding a bogey-free 63 on Saturday, a round which included birdies on three of four holes down the stretch, at Nos. 15, 16, and 18.. The 21-under mark was his career-low through three rounds on the Korn-Ferry Tour by 10 full shots, and gave him a three-stroke lead headed into Sunday’s final round.

“It was just really going out there and trying to just stay within myself and not get ahead of anything,” Gerard said on Saturday night. “It’s hard not to think about the end goal sometimes, but when you’re out there, if you can just remind yourself just one shot at a time, just trusting it, that’s all you can do every single moment.”

On Sunday, Gerard’s steady 66 made things drama-free. He made birdie at Nos. 2, 5, 12, 14, and 16 to pull away from playing partner Cristobal Del Solar, who finished third. 

Gerard said some solid swings and a good outlook made the difference.

“I was hitting it well, and that makes everything easy,” he said. “I just tried to stay positive. Marcus, my caddie, was really helpful to me all week. My putting was really solid inside six to eight feet where you need to make some of those comebackers. I just stayed patient and got it done.”

Sunday’s big mover was Adam Long, who shot 63 to rocket up the board into a tie for fourth with Kevin Velo. Long went out in 28, making birdies at 1 and 3, and stringing together six straight birdies on Nos. 5 through 10. He made a bogey at 14, but birdied 16 to finish out at eight-under on the day.

 Local product Bill Haas, Thomas Rosenmueller, and Pontus Nyholm tied for sixth at 17-under, while Dalton Ward’s closing 64 got him into a ninth-place tie with Cooper Dossey and Marcus Byrd to round out the Top 10.

While Haas had the best finish among golfers with local connections, several others turned in good finishes to improve their standing in the season long race to finish in the top-30 Korn-Ferry Points List. the top-30 automatically earn their PGA Tour card.

Billy Kennerly – The Clemson grad shot a 62 in the second round and finished in a tie for 12th place.

Keenan Huskey – The USC grad from Greenville finished in a tie for 20th at 14 under par. 39th on points list

Kyle Stanley – Former Clemson golfer shot four rounds in the 60s to finish tied for 25th.

Jonathan Byrd – Five time PGA Tour winner shot a final round 66 to move into a tie for 36th.

Trace Crowe – Auburn grad from Easley finished at 10-under par in a tie for 42nd

Kyle Cottam – Clemson golfer won a play-in tournament, shot a second round 64 to finish tied for 51st

Taylor Dickson – Winthrop grad tied for 58th, 17th on points list

Bryson Nimmer – Former Clemson golfer finished 60th at 4-under par.