Q. Really solid round from you. By the stats, drove it particularly really well. Is that kind of the best part of the game today?
RYAN GERARD: Yeah. I felt like I just kind of plodded around nicely. Didn't really leave myself in too many terrible spots. Didn't do a whole lot from them, but that's kind of the name of the game out here.
There's a lot of trees, a lot of bunkers, some weird kind of swirling winds. So you just really want to keep it in spots where you feel like you have a shot from and just kind of go from there.
Q. Obviously you would have wanted to play in the Masters, but just besides that, with how well you were playing, was it like didn't even want to take a week off last week and just keep it going?
RYAN GERARD: Yeah, I would have liked to not take a week off, but that's kind of how the schedule falls. I had played seven weeks in a row going into that, so the body definitely needed some rest.
I think overall it will be a good thing, but, yeah, it is a little bittersweet when you're playing well and you're just trying to keep it rolling.
Q. What particularly over this stretch, have there been things you found in your game, or what's really propelled you?
RYAN GERARD: I just felt really comfortable, just getting a little more consistent with everything. I feel like, when I'm having a bad day, either driving or approach play, just something slightly off, the rest of my game is able to kind of pick it up, and I feel like that's been kind of key to be confident in almost every area.
So when something's not going great, I can kind of just grind it out and figure a way to get in the clubhouse and re-evaluate and go from there.
Q. Was getting STM in '23, how much has that kind of helped, now that you're back here, you feel comfortable just because you had that stretch where you were out here regularly?
RYAN GERARD: I think it was kind of a wake-up call. I played really good golf kind of off and on, but I wasn't very consistent with it. The guys out here are really, really good, and you kind of have to be on it almost every week if you want a chance.
So just kind of seeing some of the courses for the first time, now I get a second crack at most of them. Being able to kind of see what it's like day-to-day life, how it differs from Korn Ferry or Canadian Tour. When I got back out here, I knew what to expect, I knew what I was getting myself into, and I was kind of ready for it.
I feel like sometimes there is a little bit of a transition period, but luckily I kind of had a year to get that transition done a couple years ago, and now it's just freewheeling.
Q. With PGA Championship at Quail, a place you watched a lot of golf growing up, don't need motivation to try to get into majors, but I imagine that one's on the calendar for you?
RYAN GERARD: Yeah, I missed Pinehurst in a playoff last year at U.S. Open sectionals. Being from North Carolina, you want to play in front of the home crowd. I would love to play there. I feel like we're in a good spot to keep chugging along.
Hopefully, that's all you can do. You don't really want to press too hard, but it is something where you want to make sure you get in that field.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports