Sam Ryder reflects on a gritty, wind-swept round at the Baycurrent Classic after getting into the field as first alternate. The American started hot with a long opening putt and a chip-in on 10, focusing on staying patient and managing tough conditions rather than chasing perfection. Ryder explains how he adjusted mentally to the 25-mph winds, stayed committed to each shot, and found relief just being able to compete. With a solid start and a new course providing a true test, Ryder says he’s “just happy to be playing” — and looking forward to a strong weekend.
All right, Sam. Solid ground today. Can you just walk us through what was working out there? Yeah. Um, you know, I made a nice long putt on the first hole, which was nice to get off to a good start. Uh, couple putts kept me kept me in it, and you know, it was just a tough day. It was windy, just really hard to control your golf ball, get the distances right. I just tried to put in position off the tea. Didn’t really get myself into any really bad spots until the back nine was able to save a couple pars. And um yeah, I just I think I chipped well. I chipped in on 10. Um but I really left it in the right spots, I think, when I missed. And I think that was the key today. So wasn’t a day to try and be perfect, not play perfect golf. Just try to manage my game and manage the conditions as as best I could. Knowing that the weather was going to be a factor today, did you change anything about your game going into the round? Not really. I think it’s just a mindset more so. you just know that it’s going to be tough and um you don’t really, like I said, you don’t really try to play perfect. You don’t really get too focused on like when you warm up. You saw guys weren’t, you know, guys had short warm-ups today. They weren’t really, you know, going to hit a ton of balls in a 25 mph left to right wind. So, it’s really kind of just like about, you know, focusing on getting really committed to your shots. Um, I think that was the key for me today is like just trying to really get committed and um try and execute and then you don’t get too out of shape if the ball does something funny because it was just tough. So, you just kind of deal with it, find it and hit the next one. You’re the first alternate in. Um, what was that travel plan? Was it kind of a last minute scramble or did you come straight from Yeah, I was I was really always planning on coming. I had a I’ve been first alternate for a while and uh you know kind of my position on FedEx I was always kind of planned on traveling as even as first alternate. Um so I was you know it was easy with the charter from Sanderson. Um but it was you know nice to get in. There was almost a sense of kind of relief I feel like you know where you’re kind of playing maybe a little bit more freely because you’re kind of just happy to be in. And you know, it was I wasn’t getting too stressed out about it. And we have a week off after this. So, I knew it was going to be easy to travel back even if I didn’t get in the tournament. So, yeah, it’s nice to be playing. It was nice to be able to know that on Sunday, so I didn’t have to kind of hang around and and hope, you know, so it was able to just kind of prep knowing that I was going to play. So, it’s been nice. You know, I’ve played this event a few times. Obviously, new new course and new location, but it’s been really nice um being in this area and um yeah, hopefully it’ll be good weekend. Just what I was about to ask um I know you didn’t play last year, but you have played a couple of times. What are your thoughts on this year’s golf course? Yeah, it’s good. I think it’s, you know, it’s hard to it’s really hard to kind of assess it. I think with the conditions we had today, it’s a cool track. There’s definitely some tough holes and there’s a mix of, you know, some easier holes where you can get some wedges and there’s some tougher holes where you got to step up and hit some really good tea balls. But greens are in really good shape. P greens are tough. I think that’s kind of the key is like leaving yourself in the right spot. I was interested to see how the, you know, the officials in the tournament were going to set it up just knowing how tough some of these pin positions were going to be, especially with windy conditions. And um, yeah, the weather looks good. So, I think they’re going to try and put it in a couple tough spots and make it a little more challenging, you know, as the weekend goes on. And, um, should be a good test. Thank you for the time. Yep.
