Most PGA Tour players who just watched a share of the 36-hole lead slip through their fingers on golf’s biggest closing stage would want nothing more than to disappear for a week. Ryan Gerard boarded a redeye to Switzerland instead, and less than 24 hours later, he was standing in front of cameras admitting the toll of six straight weeks of golf was finally catching up to him.
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The confession came straight from Gerard himself, in a video posted by the DP World Tour on X ahead of his debut at the Omega European Masters. “Energy levels are low; I’m mentally fatigued,” Gerard said. “I’ve played a lot of really competitive and difficult golf the last five weeks, so it’s nice to kind of be out here, look around, get lost in nature a little bit.”
That’s not something players usually say in public. But the PGA Tour pro has every reason to be honest about how he feels after such a tough week. At the Tour Championship at East Lake, the 27-year-old UNC alum shared the 36-hole lead with Viktor Hovland. He was in a great position to win the biggest title of his career on one of golf’s grandest stages. But Sunday did not go his way. He shot a 2-over 72 and finished third, four shots behind winner Scottie Scheffler. Ryan Gerard was open about his disappointment after the round.
“It’s not for a lack of effort, it’s not for a lack of mentality,” he told reporters. “It’s just I didn’t have it as well as I needed it today and just grinded it out hard. Hat’s off to Scottie. 66 out there is pretty nice given some of the pin placements and the conditions.”
The result still helped Ryan Gerard reach a career-best No. 22 in the world rankings. Masters invites hinge on world ranking, and a top-50 spot is typically required to qualify, meaning Gerard’s career-best position, while a major accomplishment, is still fragile enough that letting it slip could cost him a shot at Augusta. But rather than taking some time off after the tough finish, Gerard got on a plane. He traveled 4,730 miles to Crans-Montana, Switzerland, to play in the next tournament. He arrived as the highest-ranked player in the field after getting very little sleep.
“A little bit of jet lag, but I’m excited to be here,” Gerard said before getting honest about what six events in six weeks actually feels like.”
Gerard explained why he makes the trip anyway, even during a jam-packed PGA Tour stretch.
“I don’t really get a good chance to play DP World Tour events during the PGA tour season. It’s just too much overlap, and it’s too hard to travel intercontinentally that much. It’s really important to play as much as you possibly can on both tours, and I’m just going to come over here and play some golf in some cool places.”
This is not the first time Gerard has pushed through a tough travel schedule. Last year, he made headlines after flying to Mauritius to chase world ranking points following his Barracuda Championship win. He lost in a playoff there, but his strong run helped him climb high enough in the rankings to earn an invite to the 2026 Masters.
That same drive is now pushing him to make this trip to Switzerland, even though he admits he is tired both physically and mentally. It is refreshing to see a player openly talk about feeling tired rather than pretending everything is fine. Gerard had just watched his Tour Championship lead disappear, making the long trip even harder. Instead of saying he simply loves the grind, he has admitted how much the schedule is taking out of him. Still, he is choosing to keep going because playing on two tours means there is little time to rest.
It remains to be seen if Gerard’s honesty will help him perform this week at Crans-sur-Sierre. But no matter how he plays on Thursday, he has already shown that even the best season of his career can come with a cost. After the disappointment at East Lake, Ryan Gerard is not afraid to admit that the workload is taking a toll.