Two days before the start of The Open Championship, Ryan Gerard was on American soil, hesitating whether to make the last-minute trip to Northern Ireland. Ultimately, the advice of a friend convinced him to stay and play the Barracuda Championship, where he ended up winning the title.
Gerard’s initial hesitation was certainly justified, as he was the second alternate for the Open. It was his friend and two-time PGA Tour winner, Ben Griffin, who persuaded him to back down with a text message that would ultimately change his life.
The story was revealed by Griffin himself ahead of this week’s Wyndham Championship.
“I think anyone would have responded kind of the same way I did to Ryan (Gerard),” Griffin said, according to the transcripts of his pre-tournament presser, “because he sent the text to both me and my caddie, like ‘Hey, I’m second alternate, should I come over there?’ I mean, it was Tuesday, the answer’s no.”
“Go focus on trying to win that (the Barracuda Championship), don’t even, like, look at the leaderboard, don’t pay attention to anything, just focus on your tournament and what you’re trying to accomplish. I think any other golfer would have said that, it just so happens that me and Ryan are close and so he texts me.”
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Griffin is having the best season of his career, with two wins and more than $8 million in earnings so far. However, he didn’t miss the opportunity of joking about being compensated for his role in Gerard’s victory, even though, as he said, it was advice that anyone in his place would have given.
“Just 50% of his earnings, is all,” he joked, according to the transcripts. “I still haven’t received anything. I’ve been looking on Zelle and Wells Fargo and Merrill accounts, nothing’s hit yet … I’ll take the credit I guess.”
Griffin’s analysis of his friend’s advice turned out to be correct. There weren’t any last-minute withdrawals before The Open Championship, so Gerard’s big trip would have been for nothing.
Gerard played his best golf at the Barracuda Championship, winning his first PGA Tour title. It also earned him a $720,000 paycheck, one of the largest of his career.
The 25-year-old had been eying a breakthrough finish all season, adding a second-place finish and two more top-10 finishes to his victory.
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