Ryan Gerard’s First Masters: Episode III

Ryan Gerard is on to the weekend in his Masters debut. He opened with consecutive even-par rounds, carding a 72 on Friday that featured nine straight pars on his opening side before making two bogeys and two birdies on the second nine. 

“I played a lot better golf today,” Gerard said after the round. “I just made a lot less putts today, and I felt like I was hitting good ones…overall I'm pleased with the 36 holes. Some mistakes. A lot of good shots. A couple of bad ones. But the course isn't playing easy. Hopefully we'll get a little bit of a break tomorrow going out a little bit earlier than some of the guys and be able to chase down a good one early and kind of see how it stands. It's going to be a grind…It's already purple in spots, so it's going to be a lot of fun.” 

Gerard hit plenty of solid shots on Friday. When I asked him which was his best, I thought he might point to the crafty chip he hit on No. 18 en route to a solid up-and-down from a tough spot left of the green. But he chose a different one: a punch shot through a tight window from the right trees on No. 7. He didn’t convert the birdie, but it was the type of shot that could have gone awry and instead turned into a strong birdie look.

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“I hit the nastiest little punch cut 9-iron from 125 yards on No. 7, landed it, and two-hopped it through the gap (in the greenside bunkers) to like 10 feet,” he said. “I just didn't even sniff making the putt. I felt so bad about that effort, but that was an awesome shot. I think that was probably my personal highlight of the round. I've been trying to hit that gap that's like eight feet wide on No. 7 two days in a row, and I hit it both times. So maybe I just need to play for that gap the entire week.” 

Making the cut was never in serious doubt, but after bogeys on Nos. 10 and 11, Gerard found himself just two inside the projected cutline with seven holes to play. His two birdies on Nos. 12 and 17 pushed him comfortably inside the number. 

“I think making the cut is a good step,” he said. “I wasn't necessarily really worried about the cut. I was kind of just trying to grind my way back into it. 

“I'm going to be a little bit behind the 8-ball going into this weekend…I need to step up and play some really good golf this weekend if I want to have a chance coming down the second nine on Sunday.” 

Firm has been the word of the week on the grounds at Augusta National. There hasn’t been a drop of rain, and approach shots are landing with an audible thud and taking big bounces. The bank protecting the front of the 15th green is much closer to purple than green. With no more rain in the forecast, Augusta has the opportunity to crank the greens up to whatever level they choose. 

“It's not unplayable,” Gerard explained. “It's not even close to unplayable. They have room to push it, but it's going to be hot tomorrow. They're going to have to water them. (The) morning wave is going to have an advantage, and the afternoon guys are going to be kind of stuck out there getting their teeth kicked in. "

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“They do a good job of hiding pin placements where it's not exactly easy to get to unless you hit a really, really good approach in there. So I think the test that you're going to see is who is comfortable just sending it into the air and spinning it. But, also, who has their distance control really, really dialed with pitching wedge through 7-iron, because you're going to end up with a lot of awkward lies, awkward numbers, swirling winds to tight windows that you have to control flight and spin and try and land it on like a table top in order to have a good, quality look at birdie.” 

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So what constitutes a good score on Saturday in what could be some of the firmest conditions in recent Masters history? 

“If you shoot anything under 70 tomorrow, it would be very impressive,” Gerard answered. “You can see the pencil marks that they filled in with fertilizer that mark where the holes are for the next day. Where some of those are, it's going to take a lot from all facets of your game to shoot a score in the 60s. Anything in the 60s would be great. Anything better than 72, you're not losing ground in any way, shape, or form.” 

Gerard enters the weekend tied for 24th and will tee off on Saturday at 12:05 p.m. ET alongside Harris English.

‍Ryan Gerard has generously agreed to take us along on his journey as he competes in his first Masters Tournament. You can read about the lead-up to his tournament in Episode I and his first round in Episode II.