How Ryan Gerard's 10,000-mile journey punched his ticket to the Masters

Ryan Gerard wasn't in the Masters field coming into the week, but more than 10,000 miles later he has his ticket to Augusta National in April.

As Ryan French of Monday Q Info pointed out early this week, Gerard entered the week at No. 57 in the Official World Golf Ranking. At the end of the calendar year, the top-50 players in the OWGR earn spots in the field at Augusta National for the 2026 Masters. Wanting a shot at getting in the field of the first major in 2026, Gerard hopped on a plane, crossed two oceans to go to Mauritius, a small island east of Africa and Madagascar. Just to get to the small nation takes more than 24 hours from the United States.

The journey paid off for Gerard.

Gerard led going into the final round of the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, and a birdie on the final hole got him into a playoff with Jayden Schaper, who holed out for eagle on the second playoff hole to win his second straight DP World Tour event.

The runner-up finish was enough for Gerard, however, to move into the top 50 and secure his spot in the Masters. The 26-year-old moved to 44th in the world rankings and will get to head down Magnolia Lane for the first time in April.

Gerard won the Barracuda Championship earlier this year for his first PGA Tour win. He finished inside the top 50 of the FedEx Cup standings and is trending heading into the new year.

He has played in three U.S. Opens, making the cut in two of them, and finished T-8 at this year's PGA Championship.

His 10,000-mile journey back to the United States is going to be a lot sweeter knowing what's to come in 2026.