Wesley Bryan's first Masters round: 'Nothing I'm super thrilled about'
Wesley Bryan never will forget his first round of the Masters. He just wishes it was more of his actual golf shots he was remembering.
Bryan, a former Dutch Fork and USC golfer, shot a 2-over 74 Thursday in the opening round of his inaugural Masters.
“Didn’t really play well on the back nine, missed a few putts and shot a 74. It’s nothing that I’m super thrilled about, but I’ll work on it a little bit this afternoon and, hopefully, be better tomorrow,” Bryan said.
Bryan was in the day’s first grouping, which meant he teed off directly after honorary starters Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
“Being able to watch Mr. Player and Mr. Nicklaus tee off this morning, it just gave me chills,” he said. “It’s one of those moments I will never forget. If I had had an afternoon tee time, I probably still would have been out here.”
Bryan played with Ted Potter Jr. and friend and former Arkansas golfer, Austin Cook who also is playing in his first Masters. Bryan and Cook went through Web.com Tour qualifying school together in 2015 and both played on that tour in 2016.
“I got to know him pretty good, and he’s one of my good buddies,” Bryan said. “It was definitely a comfortable pairing.”
So comfortable that the pair engaged in a little SEC trash talk on the seventh hole. Upon noticing Cook’s Razorback head cover, Bryan gave him a “Woo P” heading down the fairway in reference to Arkansas’ “Woo, Pig, Sooiee” rallying cry. Cook responded immediately, “It’s better than ‘Go Cocks.’”
“You know you like it,” Bryan replied. “It’s funny.”
Bryan heard a lot from friends and family in the gallery Thursday. His father George and mother Valerie followed him during his round, and friends and acquaintances often caught his eye or quietly encouraged him.
“Support was great. Saw a lot of familiar faces, lot of family and friends,” Bryan said. “I guess being one of the local guys there might be a little bit of favoritism there.”
Bryan’s caddie William Lanier was happy with his player's round considering they teed off when the temperature was below 50 degrees and it was Bryan’s first competitive round in six weeks. Bryan wore gloves right up until the moment he teed off Thursday morning.
“It was really, really cold,” Bryan said.
“It took us five or six holes to feel comfortable body temperature-wise,” Lanier said. “I’m tickled. I would much rather he shoot even par, but I don’t think we’ve hurt ourselves. I think 74 is going to be OK.”
Bryan took the extended time off to work on his game after a rough stretch to start this season,
“The jitters were going on the first tee and I missed that. I missed competing, but it’s time I felt like I needed off,” he said. “I felt really, really sharp out there. I didn’t feel like I missed a beat, although a couple loose shots here and there. All and all, I don’t think it was a terrible effort out there.”
This story was originally published April 5, 2018 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Wesley Bryan's first Masters round: 'Nothing I'm super thrilled about'."