It was nothing more than a post-British Open vacation with his mother, but there could be no better place than Paris to remind Ryan Gerard how much life has changed in seven months.
Think back to the penultimate week in December when Gerard, a month into his offseason and at No. 57 in the world ranking, flew halfway around the globe to the tiny island of Mauritius .
He lost in a playoff and moved to No. 46 to secure his trip to the Masters. His flight home included a long layover in Paris, enough time for him to see the Notre Dame cathedral, the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower. 鈥淧retty sick,鈥� he said that day.
Gerard opened the year with consecutive runner-up finishes. He earned his way into the U.S. Open and British Open, lost in a playoff at the Memorial and goes into the Wyndham Championship at No. 16 in the FedEx Cup as he looks toward making the Tour Championship.
His mother came over to Royal Birkdale, where Gerard tied for ninth, and they were off to Paris for three days. That鈥檚 when Gerard, who doesn鈥檛 take much serious outside of his golf, went on a most unusual search to find 鈥渢he worst statue that I could possibly find.鈥�
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of just random statues,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the Louvre there鈥檚 a statue of a child choking out a duck, like full, rear-naked choke. So I felt like I found it pretty quickly.”
That would be .
It sounded as though his mother, meanwhile, enjoyed herself. She certainly had more time in Paris than Gerard did seven months ago on his way home from Mauritius.
鈥淪he thought I was stupid,鈥� Gerard said. 鈥淪he was appreciating the art, and I was just looking at dumb statues.鈥�
The slow drip for the PGA Tour schedule in 2028
The PGA Tour plans an update on its two-tiered scheduled for 2028 at the season-ending Tour Championship. But it keeps dropping tidbits along the way.
The latest came Tuesday, and just like the previous two from last week, it wasn’t a big surprise. The tour said the Cadillac Championship at Trump Doral would be part of the upper tier Championship Series in 2028. Still to be determined is the spot on the calendar.
Doral was added as a signature event this year 鈥� Cameron Young smoked Scottie Scheffler and everyone else in the field 鈥� in a sparsely attended tournament that ended May 3. , making it the Florida swing opener.
Last week, the tour announced on July 27 the Travelers Championship would be part of the upper tier Championship Series. The next day it announced a new sponsor (Sompo) for a Championship Series event. The Sentry at Torrey Pines was announced as upper tier on July 29, and the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill was announced July 30 as a Championship Series event.
The full 2028 schedule 鈥� the Championship Series and Challenger Series 鈥� is not likely to be fully finished until early next year. Other tournaments expected to be on the top tier are the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow and the Memorial.
And then it鈥檚 a matter of which others will be part of the 14 or 15 tournaments (excluding majors, The Players and postseason) that will form the meat of the new PGA Tour schedule.
Bernhard Langer goes back to his roots
The PGA Tour Champions went to Portugal for the first time last week, and it gave Bernhard Langer a chance to reflect on how far he has come from a German teenager turning pro to a two-time Masters champion in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Langer began the 1976 European Tour season at the Portuguese Open. He was 18. His accommodation was the car he had driven from Munich. He couldn鈥檛 afford a caddie so he used a trolley.
鈥淚 had very little money and the prize money was very low,鈥� Langer said. 鈥淭here were no courtesy cars, no range balls, no food. You had to buy everything and bring everything yourself. It was extremely difficult just getting from one place to another because I couldn鈥檛 even rent a car. I was too young.鈥�
Langer missed the 54-hole cut and drove to the Spanish Open, where he missed another 54-hole cut. But he struck it rich in his third start at the Madrid Open. He tied for fifth and won just over $1,000.
鈥淚t was challenging, but it was a brand new experience. It was exciting for me as difficult as it was,鈥� Langer said. 鈥淭hings were difficult in those days, but it made you probably work even harder to succeed.鈥�
That he did. Three years later, he had the first of his 40 European Tour titles. Nine years later, he was a Masters champion. And at age 68, with 47 victories.
Only now he鈥檚 flying to tournaments and staying in hotels.
Nelly Korda performs the best in the majors
Nelly Korda has to settle for winning the first two majors, and along the way she picked up an LPGA award for the best performance in the majors.
Korda and Haeran Ryu each won two majors this year, and only Ryu had a reasonable chance to win the final major at the Women’s British Open until she closed with two bogeys for a 74 and slipped into a tie for sixth. Korda finished with a 68 that moved her up to a tie for fourth.
That was enough for her to win the points-based Annika Award for major champions accruing the most points in a major.
Along with winning The Chevron and the U.S. Women’s Open, Korda tied for eighth in the Women’s PGA Championship and missed the cut in the Evian Championship. Ryu tied for 12th in The Chevron and won the Women’s PGA and the Evian. She did not play in the U.S. Women’s Open.
The award began in 2014. Korda joined Minjee Lee as the only players to win it twice.
Divots
Nelly Korda, Angel Yin and Jennifer Kupcho have clinched three of the seven spots available on the U.S. points list for the Solheim Cup. Two tournaments remain in qualifying. Team Europe finalized its 12-member team on Monday. … The Ryder Cup already has sold out of general admission tickets for the 2027 matches in Ireland followed a ballot process that attracted fans from 80 countries. That followed a previous ballot for Irish fans (that sold out in an hour) which account for 34% of the tickets sold. 鈥淲e could have sold out our general admission tickets more than 12 times over,鈥� said Richard Atkinson, the European Tour group鈥檚 chief Ryder Cup officer. … Challenger, the leading retirement income provider in Australia, has signed a five-year extension to be title partner of the PGA Tour of Australasia. The circuit Down Under released a 19-tournament schedule for 2026-27 that starts at the end of August.
Stat of the week
Japan is the only country to have LPGA major champions in each of the last three years.
Final word
鈥淚 really love to drink alcohol and just drink and have fun, so I intend to drink a lot tonight.鈥� 鈥� Shiho Kuwaki on how she would celebrate winning the Women’s British Open.
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