MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 9, 2026

Ryan Gerard

Quick Quotes

Q. Got to feel good about that?

RYAN GERARD: Yeah, I would say played pretty good all day. Just wasn't really getting the most out of the round, and then made a couple longer putts to kind of keep myself in it. Then it's nice finishing with a birdie on one of the harder holes, if not the hardest hole probably today to kind of make lunch taste a little better.

Feel like I got something out of the round considering I just felt like I kept leaving it in bad spots and wasn't making that bad of swings. Kind of a fun one. Course is playing hard, and it's probably only going to get harder, too. Excited to finish that way. Kind of grind it out, be pretty gutty, and go get after it tomorrow. Hopefully get off to a little better start.

Q. As a first timer, what do you think about between shots?

RYAN GERARD: Depends what I do on the previous shot. You know, sometimes I'm just like cussing to myself in my head. Majority of the time it's either trying to have some chitchat with some guys in the group or Pepsi or kind of anyone just to fill the time.

A lot of it is just taking notes of what's happened, certain bounces, what you might see, if you see someone else hit a shot on a different hole how does that react.

Kind of prepping yourself mentally for the in next one. One shot at a time and not getting too ahead of what you're doing. Sometimes it's hard to not think about a score, which I try not to. But if it gets bad enough it's like, all right, we got to do something different.

I would say that's kind of what the thought process is.

Q. Obviously your first Masters round. What were you feeling on the first tee and over the first tee shot, and how did that differ or align with what you expected?

RYAN GERARD: Dude, I was so much more nervous than I thought I was going to be. 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 than -- I probably got to the tee a little bit earlier than I should have because then I was waiting for a while.

Now I'm sitting around like okay, wait, wait, wait. Keegan blew it way right and I was like, I'm not going to do that. 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.

Yeah, it was definitely more nerve-wracking. Probably the fastest club speed I'll hit all year on the first tee there.

Yeah, just I think I'll be more prepared for tomorrow. You know, my first ever tee shot in a major was the tenth hole at the Country Club at Brookline. It was my first as a professional. Most nervous I've ever been in my life, and that probably comes close to this right here.

The next day you kind of have an idea what to expect. Couple more deep breaths and just trust it.

Q. People talked a lot about the golf course changing significantly between the practice rounds and once the tournament starts.

RYAN GERARD: Yeah.

Q. Was that true of your experience? If so, in what ways?

RYAN GERARD: I think early on I almost was trying to give the golf course like too much credit, and what I mean by that is like I almost thought it was more difficult than it was.

I kind of left myself like I thought a chip would roll out a little bit more and then I left myself like a 15 foot downhiller. That wasn't ideal.

But kind of as the day goes on you get a little bit more used to it. But it's tough, man. It's firmer. It's faster. It's everything that I expected but you almost psych yourself out a little bit earlier on thinking it's not going to be as firm or you think oh, then the first hole doesn't go great so then it's going to be way firmer and took me a few holes to even it out and really figure it out.

But it's as crispy as they are going to want it this week. It's going to be on the setup guys to do what they want with this course. It's in perfect shape. The 18th green is turning purple and it's Thursday at 2:00. They're going to have an awesome week ahead of them if they choose to let to stay firm.

Q. Tar Heels golf team was here earlier in the week. Did you see them and interact with them?

RYAN GERARD: I saw them at a distance. Didn't get a chance to interact with them. Monday was hectic for me. Been playing really good golf. They just won the Augusta Haskins event down the road here this weekend. I keep pretty good in touch with the coach and some of the guys on the team, especially, you know, as I see them at different places, continue kind of going through more and more professional golf and kind of getting more of an alum feel than a team feel. It's kind of an interesting dynamic. I love the guys. They're all awesome.

I'm a member at a course in North Carolina where they play a lot of golf sometimes, so I'll go out there and play with them from time to time. Eagle Point in Wilmington. They host a college event there and they'll go out there and play a few times. I'll join them every now and again.

It's great kind of being around those guys.

Q. What do you think of the new basketball coach? I know you've been in your bubble here but...

RYAN GERARD: I would say I'm excited. You know, any time you have a new coach it's kind of a level of excitement. I would say definitely unsure what to expect. I've heard he's really, really good with Xs and Os. Really cerebral guy. Takes a lot of experience from the NBA which in this day in age college basketball seems to be shaping more like NBA basketball with players getting compensated, schedules being more regimented.

So I would say that's -- that gives me some hope. It's probably the first time in a long time that UNC has had a basketball coach that's not part of the UNC family. As alum and someone that loves the school, that's a little kind of bittersweet to me.

Q. You hit your tee shot in the trees on 10. Coming off four straight bogeys. Talk about the headspace you were in and how you were able to turn it around.

RYAN GERARD: Yeah, I wasn't very happy. The tenth tee shot and I just don't get along because you have to really kind of move it and for some reason every time I play that hole it's down off the left which is the absolute worst wind for me to try and hit a draw with.

I just hit like a dead straight ball that I knew was just destined for the trees, so I get down there and I have nothing. I had to chip out. I didn't chip it far enough so my angle sucked on the next shot.

I just ended up hitting a good one in there and making a putt. That was kind of where I felt like the momentum changed a little bit. I felt like I was hitting -- like I hit a good shot into 8. I just misjudged the wind and left it long and didn't get up and down.

And then felt like I hit a good shot into 7. Just we were talking about it earlier I was giving the golf course too much credit. I didn't let the bunker shot, hit it hard enough because I thought it was going to really feed down there.

Hit a good one on 6, kind of right down my line. Just, again, didn't really trust the wind and kind of went long. So was like, man, 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.

Kind of set the tone where 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. Pepsi did a good job just kind of giving me some words of encouragement and getting in my grille a little bit there to kind of reset.

But I would say any time that you can kind of make the turn if things aren't going great it's a good reset time. Just did a really good job of hanging tough I would say throughout the back nine.

Q. Is there a particular shot or moment you're most proud of today and how would you grade your round?

RYAN GERARD: 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.

I would say shot that I'm most proud of is -- I mean the second -- the second shot I hit into 17 was a really good shot. I absolutely butchered the chip because I thought it was going to be checking up that hill but the green is turning purple currently.

Probably not a whole lot of that going on for the rest of the day. I was just -- felt like I hit a good tee shot. Kind of bounced left. Got in the rough. I think I told you before 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.

That was probably one the things where he we fought back all day. Last thing you want to do is piss away a good round on the last couple holes. 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.

Felt like if it I kept hitting good golf shots once I figured out what the right spots were, it was going to eventually be good. But it was nice to not throw it all away on the last two holes.