Ryan Gerard’s First Masters: Episode II

Ryan Gerard stepped onto the first tee at 9:25 a.m. ET on Thursday, six minutes before his first-ever Masters tee time. 

“I was so much more nervous than I thought I was going to be,” Gerard said after the round. “I was like ‘Oh, it's not that bad. I've played majors before. This isn't too crazy.’ Then I got up there and we're sitting there for a little bit longer…I probably got to the tee a little bit earlier than I should have because then I was waiting for a while.” 

Gerard hit a quick hook left that finished just a few feet from the ninth fairway, which runs in the opposite direction. 

“Keegan blew it way right and I was like, ‘I'm not going to do that,’” Gerard said. “Then I just smother-hooked it in the left trees, so I'm glad I didn't take it off someone's forehead early on in the round…My first-ever tee shot in a major was the 10th hole at the Country Club at Brookline. It was my first (shot) as a professional. Most nervous I've ever been in my life, and that probably comes close to this right here.” 

Gerard went on to bogey the first, then steadied himself with a 13-foot birdie on No. 2 and a 35-foot bomb to birdie No. 3. 

MASTERS HUB: Course insights, tournament coverage, and more from Augusta

But the round didn’t come without setbacks. After four consecutive bogeys from Nos. 6 through 9, Gerard hit it into the right trees on the dogleg-left 10th, putting his round — and potentially his tournament — at risk of unraveling. 

{{ryan-gerard-masters-quote-two}}

With trees fully impeding Gerard’s path to the green, he was forced to chip out. 

“I ended up hitting a good (third) in there and making a putt,” Gerard said of his par save. “That was kind of where I felt like the momentum changed a little bit…(I) felt like I was making good swings and all of a sudden you're making four bogeys in a row and you feel like an absolute idiot. (It) kind of set the tone that we're not going to quit, we're not going to give up. We're here to play golf, not just look at the pretty flowers and say hi to people. (I) just did a really good job of hanging tough I would say throughout the back nine.” 

The par at No. 10 kept Gerard at 3 over — not the start he would have drawn up, but he had stopped the bleeding. Lengthy birdie makes on No. 11 and No. 13 moved him back to 1-over par, and with a birdie-par-bogey-birdie finish, he carded a 3-under 33 on the back nine, good for an even-par 72.

{{inline-article}}

“The second shot I hit into 17 was a really good shot,” he answered when asked about the shot he was most proud of. “I absolutely butchered the chip because I thought it was going to be checking up on that hill but the green is turning purple currently.

“(I) felt like I hit a good tee shot. (It) kind of bounced left. Got in the rough…The left rough on 17 is jail. I like snap-hooked a 9-iron from 190 yards and almost hit it on the green and left it in a great spot.

“We fought back all day. (The) last thing you want to do is piss away a good round on the last couple holes,” he explained. “So hitting that shot and then stepping up and hitting a good one into 18 and getting a putt to fall. Those were two things I was really proud of.” 

So what grade would he give his first Masters round? 

“I give the front nine an F. I would probably give the back nine like an A. Overall a C, which would get a degree most places, so I'll take it.” 

Through one day of play, Gerard is T-17 out of 91 players. His second round tee time is 12:44 p.m. ET. 

‍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 Ryan Gerard’s First Masters: Episode I.