Gerard on a Roll with Veteran Caddie Who’s Tasted PGA Championship Glory

Playing in his first PGA Championship, Ryan Gerard announced his presence rather emphatically with a blistering 5-under 66 in Thursday’s opening round of the 2025 PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.

Gerard entered this week having played the course he figured about a combined dozen times between his collegiate career and recreationally once in the PGA Tour’s Truist Championship in 2023, so the 25-year-old at least has a sense of his surroundings.

But 66 is ultra impressive considering he has yet to post anything inside the top 50 in a major championship.

Gerard is from Raleigh and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2022, so a start like this means particularly more to him as a local.

“It's a lot of fun, it’s really cool,” Gerard said in Thursday’s presser. “Obviously, it's nice being where I came from. You know, I feel very comfortable here. There's a lot of people here that I know and I've been fortunate enough to play this golf course a few times. And all of that is fantastic, and it’s definitely helped in the preparation. But overall, I just feel really comfortable. I love being here.”

It will be interesting to see how comfortable Gerard remains as the tournament progresses. He has veteran looper Steve Hale (aka Pepsi) on the bag and they’ve been together since the Korn Korn Ferry Tour Championship last fall at French Lick Resort. Hale looped for Keegan Bradley at the 2011 PGA Championship when Bradley won his first major championship in his very first try.

Does Hale see any resemblances between Gerard and a young Keegan?

“Just how gritty they play,” Hale said Thursday. “Will always keep fighting.”

Between Ryder Cups, Presidents Cups and many other big stages, Hale’s been through many a pressure moment. And Gerard feels fortunate to have someone with a wealth of big event experience on his bag to give insight under the gun.

"He knows exactly what to do, and when to do it. I like that he doesn’t get too high-strung. He’s not anxious. He’s seen everything before,” Gerard said in an interview last week. “He likes being in contention, he likes having chances to win, and when we get there the look on his face is ‘we’re going to go get it.’ It’s not a scared nature.”

A recent example was at the RBC Heritage a couple of weeks back. The wind was swirling late in their final round, and Hale had a confident answer in the moment that gave Gerard the confidence he needed to hit the right shot.

“He knows where the wind’s coming from. He’s dead set that this is where the shot needs to go with this trajectory instead of ‘it just feels downwind,’” Gerard said.

Gerard’s won on once on the Korn Ferry Tour, but he knows there’s a lot he needs to still learn as he navigates these bigger events like major championships, with Hale’s advice.

"He’s been really helpful for me. I’m young, I know what I’m doing but I’m young and I’m learning still, and he’s got a wealth of knowledge that we can draw upon in certain areas,” Gerard said.