Ryan Gerard vaults to lead at BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by TD SYNNEX with Saturday 63

Things to know

• In his 20th career start on the Korn Ferry Tour, Ryan Gerard totals 21-under 193 through 54 holes to eclipse his previous career-low 54-hole score on Tour (203/2024 LECOM Suncoast Classic), and will carry a three-stroke lead into the final round
• Cristobal Del Solar (Second/18-under) cards a 6-under 65 and is inside the top five through 54 holes for the second time this season (finished solo fourth at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay)
• Korn Ferry Tour winner Kevin Velo (T3/16-under) cards 6-under 65 to enter the final round inside the top five for the second time this season
• Billy Kennerly (T3/16-under) follows a career-low 9-under 62 with 3-under 68 in the third round to remain in the top five
• Two-time Korn Ferry Tour winner Trevor Cone (T8/13-under) shares the low round of the day in 8-under 63 with Gerard, Korn Ferry Tour winner Joey Garber (T8/13-under), and Pontus Nyholm (T8/13-under)

Charting the leader

Ryan Gerard (First/21-under)

• Holds the 54-hole lead/co-lead for the first time in his career, bidding for first career Korn Ferry Tour victory
• Cards a bogey-free 8-under 63 with birdies on three of his last four holes (Nos. 15, 16, 18), ties the low round of the day
• In his 20th career start, totals 21-under 193 through 54 holes to eclipse his previous Korn Ferry Tour career-low 54-hole score of 203/2024 LECOM Suncoast Classic (64-67-72 in Rounds 1-3)
• Played the first four events of the 2023 Korn Ferry Tour season, highlighted by a T3 at the 2023 Astara Golf Championship, but earned and accepted Special Temporary Membership on the PGA TOUR in April 2023 and played the rest of the year on TOUR
• Finished solo-fourth as an open qualifier at the 2023 Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches (stood T3 through 36 holes), followed by a T11 at the Puerto Rico Open, T71 at the Valspar Championship, and T56 at the Valero Texas Open en route to Special Temporary Membership
• Added a second top-10 on TOUR at the 2023 Barracuda Championship (5th)
• Finished No. 5 in the 2022 Fortinet Cup Standings on PGA TOUR Canada with a victory and two additional top-four finishes
• Turned professional in 2022 after five seasons at University of North Carolina (2017-22), where he won one collegiate event, garnered 2022 All-America Second Team recognition, and finished as the program’s career scoring average leader (71.65), breaking the school record previously established by Ben Griffin (72.02)

Quotables

Ryan Gerard on what winning means to him... “I think winning in professional golf is really hard at every level, whether it be PGA TOUR, Korn Ferry, Americas, mini tours. Just putting your name at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the tournament is a special and rare occurrence in golf. My goal this year has been to get back to the PGA TOUR. I played 20-some-odd events out there last year. I played well enough to retain my card, but the conditional membership that I had, you don't get to retain it. You have to go earn it. I know I belong out there, I know I can play out there. Just getting one step closer to being back out there is kind of where I want to be. A win's great, would love to do it, but we're just going to focus on just one shot at a time. There's a lot of golf left between now and the end of the year. There's not a whole lot of rush for anything.”

Gerard on what has clicked this week... “Been doing great on Thursdays and Fridays. I went out there today just knowing I needed to trust myself, and I have a good process. Played well as the U.S. Open (Final Qualifying) Monday. Just really going out there, trying to just stay within myself and not get ahead of anything. 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.”

Additional player notes

• Cristobal Del Solar (Second/18-under) cards a 6-under 65 and holds a career-high 54-hole position (previous: T4/2024 The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay/finished solo fourth)
• Billy Kennerly (T3/16-under) remains in the top five with a third-round 3-under 68, stands inside the top five through 54 holes of a Korn Ferry Tour event for the first time since 2021 (T3/Emerald Coast Classic at Sandestin/finished T5)
• Kevin Velo (T3/16-under), winner of the 2024 Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard, records a 6- under 65 to and stands inside the top five through 54 holes for the second time this season (T2/Astara Golf Championship/Won)
  • Trailed by three strokes through 54 holes of the 2024 Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard, earned his first Korn Ferry Tour victory in a playoff after a final-round 5-under 66
• Korn Ferry Tour rookie Marcus Byrd (T5/15-under) records a career-low 54-hole score of 15-under 199, sits inside the top five through 54 holes for the first time this season
  • In 2023, won four events on the APGA Tour to finish first in the Lexus Cup Standings
  • Earned conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour this season via a T64 finish at Final Stage of 2023 PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry
• Matt McCarty (T5/15-under) and Brandon Crick (T41/8-under) have each recorded the fewest over-par scores (two) through 54 holes