Ryan Gerard’s First Masters: Episode I

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to compete in your first Masters Tournament, Ryan Gerard has you covered this week. The 26-year-old Raleigh, North Carolina, native is one of 22 first-timers in the field and has generously agreed to take us along on his journey, sharing insights and anecdotes throughout the tournament. 

Gerard joined me for a phone call last week to discuss the visits he had already made to Augusta National this year and to share expectations for one of the biggest weeks of his career to date. He has also debriefed after each of his three practice rounds this week. 

Below are a few things to know about Gerard before he makes his Masters debut, along with highlights from our conversations so far: 

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Qualifying for the Masters 

Gerard took the path less traveled to punch a ticket to Augusta. For those unfamiliar with the qualification criteria for a Masters invitation, one avenue is finishing the previous calendar year inside the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking. 

Heading into last November’s RSM Classic, Gerard ranked No. 49 in the world, just inside the cutoff. He missed the cut that week and fell to No. 53, jeopardizing his chances of qualifying for his first Masters. Rather than leave his fate to the new year, Gerard traveled 20,000 miles in December to play in the Mauritius Open on a remote island east of Madagascar. He finished second, losing in a playoff, but improved his world ranking enough to sneak inside the top 50 by year’s end while many other similarly ranked players stayed at home. A Masters invitation awaited him when he returned to his house in Jupiter, Florida. 

“I was pretty tired, but I was also kind of pissed because I just lost. I think that's the competitive crazy in me,” Gerard relayed on our phone call. “But my buddy who caddied for me had a really good heart-to-heart with me and told me we came all this way and accomplished the goal we set out to do. So as frustrating as it was kind of with certain aspects of the result, I accomplished the goal I set out there to do.”

On the Journey from Childhood to Augusta

I asked Gerard to reflect on his journey from junior golf to his first Masters appearance and whether any vivid memories stand out. Two scenes immediately jumped to his mind: 

The first was a game he called “Impossible Bunkers,” which he used to play as a kid at Wildwood Green Golf Club in Raleigh. He and his friends would take out the flag and bury each other’s golf balls in the worst possible bunker lies, leaving one another impossible shots without knowing the hole location. Gerard said it taught him how to manage uncomfortable situations and that he enjoys digging himself out of the dirt, both figuratively and literally. There is no lie he hasn’t seen before. 

The second was a gap wedge he hit on his final hole at PGA Tour Canada Q-School, into the wind and over water, to inside a foot for birdie. Gerard has won three times since turning professional — once on PGA Tour Canada, once on the Korn Ferry Tour, and once on the PGA Tour — but that gap wedge at Q-School proved to him that he could produce a big-time shot when he needed it the most.

Without that shot, Gerard isn’t sure he would be in the Masters, at least not this quickly. He acknowledged that getting here has happened faster than expected. 

“As someone who plays this game for a living, you kind of expect to be here,” Gerard said. “Maybe not as soon as I got here though. Realistically, I thought next year or maybe the year after would be the time frame. But I’m excited to be here.” 

Familiarity with Augusta National 

Gerard feels comfortable around Augusta National, something he believes could serve him well once the tournament begins. Throughout his practice rounds, he has looked comfortable — smiling, striding around confidently, and carrying himself with a laid-back attitude. 

Gerard had been on property a few times prior to this year, both as a patron and once to play during college. After receiving his Masters invitation, he visited Augusta National three times before tournament week to build familiarity with the course and pick up on any nuances in how it was playing.

“No. 11, 14, and 17 are three new greens,” Gerard said after a visit last week. “They are rock hard. You're going to see some carnage.” 

Required Shot Shapes

Gerard’s dominant shot shape is a fade. (He also has a new driver in the bag after the face on his previous one caved in this past Saturday). I asked him about the common belief that Augusta National requires right-to-left ball flights on certain holes. 

“I think you do have to hit draws,” Gerard said. “They just aren't as big of draws as people might think. You can get away with hitting a four-yard draw. You don't need to hit a thirty-yard hook. It’s probably beneficial if you have the fifteen-to-twenty-yard hook in your bag because you can kind of start shots in a wider spot and sling them. But you can hit a five-yard draw, you just have to start it in a tighter window and let it meander its way left. It’s doable and if you end up hitting it dead straight, it might just roll through into the second-cut or trickle in the pine straw, but you're not going to be totally dead.

“No. 13, the new tee is so far back there that you don't even need to hit a draw anymore. Just bang driver and hope you have an angle. No. 2 and 10 are definitely holes that you want to hit a draw on. There are some others where it might be beneficial, but those are really the only two tee shots that you have to hit a draw, and you don’t need to hit more than a five-yard draw if you pick the right target and feel comfortable starting it near-ish a tree.” 

He also noted that he toyed with building a mini-driver with hook bias, but it wasn’t cooperating, so he shelved it in favor of his 3-wood. 

Augusta Green Speeds

Both before tournament week and after each of his practice rounds, Gerard pointed out that the greens are getting progressively firmer and faster as the tournament approaches, but they aren’t that fast. 

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“It's more about who is hitting it in the right spots and whose touch and feel around the greens is good enough to leave themselves tap-ins or the three-footers that are easily makeable on the next putt,” Gerard added.

He also explained that, as the week has progressed, the grass has been mown shorter and tighter, making putting an increasingly attractive option from around the greens compared to chipping. 

‘Excited to Compete’

Gerard is a competitor. That much was clear from the way he described his disappointment in Mauritius. I asked him how he balances enjoying the accomplishment of earning a spot in this field and stopping to smell the roses with focusing on the task at hand: competing to win a green jacket.

“I think we got the enjoyment out of the way already,” Gerard said. “Coming here the first time and spending an outrageous amount of money in the pro shop. But now we’re here. This is my job. It’s the best job in the world, but it’s a job. A lot of people depend on me. I enjoy competing just about as much as I enjoy doing anything, so we’re here and it’s time to do it. I’m excited to compete.

“It’s a dream to compete. I love playing,” he continued. “I love just getting out there and trying to beat everybody. So I think I'm most excited for that.”

Gerard tees off at 9:31 a.m. ET on Thursday morning alongside Keegan Bradley and Nick Taylor.