Barracuda Championship Round 3: Ryan Gerard's Flop Shot Forges a Tie With Rico Hoey

Ryan Gerard saved the shot of the week for the 54th hole, and it did not even come with a putter.

Gerard holed a 20-foot flop shot for birdie at the 18th on Saturday at Tahoe Mountain Club to cap a 12-point round and pull level with Rico Hoey at the top of the Barracuda Championship. Both players sit on 34 points heading into Sunday. Erik van Rooyen, the 2021 champion, is one back on 33. France's Tom Vaillant is alone in fourth on 32, and Hayden Springer and Vince Whaley are tied for fifth on 29.

The Flop That Changed Sunday

Gerard started the day in a five-way tie for fifth, four points behind Hoey, and spent the afternoon grinding through a round that was efficient more than flashy. Seven birdies against two bogeys made for 12 points, the second straight double-digit day after Friday's 15.

The finish was something else. From 20 feet at the last, Gerard lofted a flop shot that dropped into the cup. In stroke play it is a birdie. In this format it is 2 points that turned a chase into a co-lead, and it gave Gerard a first career 54-hole lead or co-lead on TOUR.

The 25-year-old former North Carolina standout has been playing a lot of golf. This is Gerard's sixth straight week of competition, a run that started at the U.S. Open and went through Scotland last week. Gerard has three top-10 finishes in 22 starts this season and finished fifth at this event two years ago, so the course is hardly a mystery.

Hoey Holds On

Hoey did not have it going early. After two straight 13-point rounds, the overnight leader made three bogeys on Saturday and spent a long stretch watching points leak away while the putter refused to cooperate. Hoey said afterward the hope was simply that the putter would warm up, because it had been ice cold.

It finally did. Hoey birdied four of the final six holes to finish with six birdies and 8 points, enough to keep a share of the top spot. It is the first time Hoey has held a 54-hole lead or co-lead on TOUR, which is significant for a player who has made 51 starts without a win. The best finish so far is a runner-up at the 2024 ISCO Championship.

Van Rooyen Lurks

The most dangerous player on the board may be the one in third. Van Rooyen added 8 points on Saturday, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 3rd, a hole that has already paid out eagles this week. Two birdies and a bogey filled out the card.

What makes van Rooyen scary is not just the number. Of the 14 players tied for 10th or better, van Rooyen is the only one who has won on the PGA TOUR, and one of those wins came right here in 2021. Everyone else near the top is playing for a first title.

Vaillant is right there too. Making just a fourth career PGA TOUR start, the DP World Tour member made five birdies against a lone bogey for 9 points and sits two back. Springer posted 10 points to jump into a tie for fifth, and Whaley added 7 to get there.

Moving Day, Literally

The best rounds of the day came from further down the board. Will Gordon and Joel Girrbach each scored 14 points, the high mark on Saturday. Gordon's round lifted a player who started the day well outside the top 40 into a tie for 10th on 27.

Max Homa kept quietly climbing. After a minus 1 on Thursday, Homa has now added 14 and 12 and sits in a tie for 16th on 25. Nine points is a lot of ground to make up, but it is a solid bounce back from Thursday.

Others went backward fast. Max McGreevy, tied for second after a bogey-free 16 on Friday, lost 4 points on Saturday and tumbled into a tie for 36th. First-round leader Ben Martin posted a second straight zero and fell into a tie for 55th. Kiradech Aphibarnrat had the roughest day of anyone at minus 11.

History Says Hold the Champagne

A 54-hole lead has not been worth much at this event lately. Over the last six editions, only one 54-hole leader or co-leader has gone on to win: Chez Reavie in 2022. In a format where an eagle and a birdie can swing seven points in two holes, a tie at the top is closer to a starting line than a cushion.

The stakes are big. The winner gets 300 FedExCup points, a TOUR exemption and a spot in next year's PGA Championship. For Gerard and Hoey, it would be a first PGA TOUR title. For van Rooyen, it would be a second trophy from Tahoe. Only two points separate the top four, and Sunday will reward whoever keeps stacking birdies without handing points back.

Catch up on the week in our Round 1 recap and Round 2 recap. More details are in the PGA TOUR's Round 3 recap (opens in a new tab).

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 3 recap, AP), Golf Today, Sportskeeda leaderboard. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.