Michael Kim roasts himself while rewatching the opening round from his Masters debut

Like many golf fans, I’ve enjoyed Michael Kim’s entertaining and insightful commentary on social media (@Mike_kim714 on X). So when I sent him a message, asking if he would rewatch every shot of his first round at the 2019 Masters with me, I was hopeful but also aware I was asking for an hour of time with a top 50 golfer in the world, on his week off.

“Sure, how about Tuesday or Wednesday next week?” he replied.

And so, with me in Edinburgh and Michael in Dallas, we sat on a shared Zoom call, opened the Masters website and began rewatching his first competitive round at Augusta. Here’s his first-person thoughts. —Jamie Kennedy

I still remember qualifying for the 2019 Masters. It was a surreal experience. The year prior, I shot 63-64-64 to lead the John Deere Classic by five with a round to play. I had missed three cuts in a row, but my game clicked and I holed everything … everything!

I shot a final-round 66 and won by eight. My mind immediately went to the exemptions. Yeah, I now have a job for the next two years. But quickly after, as quick as the interview on the 18th green afterwards, I was reminded that the win got me into the Masters.I had never even been to Augusta. Never been a spectator, never played the course, never even been near the city. Now I had to find a rental house and plan for my Masters debut.

Streeter Lecka

Early in 2019, around Bay Hill week, I planned a trip to go see the course for the first time. I had no idea how to schedule a practice round so my agent called ahead and set everything up. I hopped in a rental card and plugged “Augusta National Golf Club” into the GPS. The first of many surreal experiences.

Armed with the best mid-size car Hertz had available, I arrived at Magnolia Lane. I checked in at the gate and then drove towards the clubhouse. I’m not sure if there’s a minimum speed limit in the state of Georgia, but I can tell you a snail would have beaten me to the end of the road.

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I wasn’t teeing off for a couple of hours but arrived early to see as much of the place as I could. You watch it on TV and feel like you know the course pretty well, but you never get to see inside the clubhouse. I got some breakfast and immediately broke my first rule at Augusta by not removing my hat (a mistake I haven’t made since!) and was greeted by a server.

“Good morning Mr. Kim, what can I get you?”

There was no menu on the table. So I asked what they had for breakfast.

“We can prepare anything you’d like?” the man replied.

As if this place couldn’t get better. I ordered the eggs he recommended and waited, taking in every picture on the wall and detail in the room.

When you set up a practice round as a Masters competitor, you’re allowed to bring one guest. Not to play, just to walk with you. So on a random Monday in March, I was on the first tee with my best friend James and a local Augusta caddie.

Jamie Squire

Brandt Snedeker was playing behind me that day, and he had a member playing with him. I remember thinking that I should have asked to play with a member, to get the real experience and hear all the old stories of the place. Regardless, we headed off.

It was a pretty cold morning and although it was just a month before the tournament, the course was pretty soft. I remember thinking how long the course played. I tried to treat it like a normal practice round, but it was pretty hard. Every hole you play, you remember all the shots you’ve seen guys hit through the year.

On the 10th tee, I walked off into the trees on the left to see where Rory’s tee shot ended up in 2011. I couldn’t believe how far it was from the fairway. I hit a couple of shots into the green from the fairway and then walked to the other side to see where Bubba hit his famous escape shot in the playoff in 2012. I even tried Tiger’s chip shot on the 16th hole. You have to, right?

We had lunch, played the Par-3 course and even came back the next day for another practice round. It all felt surreal. Seeing the course and area with barely anyone around. I remember walking out the back of the clubhouse and seeing that view of course, down the hill to the second green and seventh hole. You can see so much. On TV, the place looks intimate and tree-lined but here in March, it felt open and vast.

I drove back to Florida with a lot of notes and some great memories, but I felt pretty anxious about the idea of returning just a month later to play in the Masters.

Augusta National

I missed the cut at Bay Hill, my sixth straight missed cut in a row, and headed to Sawgrass. I played a practice round with Zach Johnson. I had gotten to know Zach pretty well on tour and we’d often link up during practice days. When we finished, we headed into the players dining area of the locker room and Tiger was at a table by himself. Zach made a plate of food and sat at his table. “This is my chance,” I thought. I had never met Tiger before but surely I could join now that ZJ had sat down next to him.

“Is it OK if I join you guys?”

They both nodded and said yes. I took off my players badge and made sure to put it on the table, face up, so Tiger could see my name. There’s no way he knew who I was. We sat for 30 minutes or so, and I probably said three words. The pair of them just chatted about Sawgrass and even told some Augusta stories as well. I remember Tiger talking about the mudballs you can get if it’s playing soft and how he would try and hit low draws down holes like 10 so the ball would land and roll and some of the mud would come off the ball.

“Nice to meet you Michael,” he said as he got up to leave. My trick had worked. Tiger Woods knew my name.

I only ate there twice more as once again, I missed the cut.

After yet another two-day work week at Innisbrook, I was headed to my rental house in Augusta. I had now missed eight cuts in a row. My game was not in good shape.

I arrived on Sunday. Sadly having Sundays off had become a bit of a habit for me. I got to the course at about midday. Already it looked very different from my trip a month earlier. I wasn’t sure where I was going. Obviously, as players, you’re allowed to go most places but there’s still areas we can’t go, or champions can but regular players can’t. I found a ballroom with a buffet so I sat down to eat some lunch. It wasn’t until I looked up and saw that the average age of the room was about 11, that I realized I was eating in the dining area for the Drive, Chip and Putt competitors. Oops. I wonder what age group they thought I was in.

Andrew Redington

I practiced all afternoon on Sunday, trying to find some feels. They didn’t track the number of range balls you hit back in 2019, but if they did I would have taken the lead early and been the leader in the clubhouse by Thursday morning. I was grinding.

Monday, I played nine holes with Zach Johnson. No Tiger with us this time, but it was pretty cool to walk the back nine with Zach. I didn’t ask him too much but it was pretty slow so he gave me a few nuggets and stories. Honestly, some of the experience and knowledge cliches are a little overrated. You know where you have to hit the shots, it’s just really hard to execute the shots. Especially if you’re hitting the ball like I was.

I do remember Zach talking me through the 13th hole and how and where to lay-up for the different pin positions. Remember, this is the guy who won the 2007 Masters laying up on every par five. If he gives you tips on laying up, it’s probably worth listening to.

I played the front nine on Tuesday and the Par-3 Contest on Wednesday but the majority of my time was spent on the range early in the week. My swing didn’t feel terrible but I was struggling with my driver, missing both ways. Every time I thought I had figured something out, I’d hit a foul ball. I was running out of time.

David Cannon

On the first tee Thursday, I shook hands with Sandy Lyle and Patton Kizzire, my two playing partners. Patton and I had played a bunch of golf together on the Korn Ferry Tour, and I liked him so I was happy he was in the group. Sandy was a little older, but he was a Masters champion and you could tell by the cheer he got when the first tee announcer called his name. The patrons respect the past champions.

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It was time. My first tee shot at Augusta. I was extremely nervous. Mainly because of the state of my game but also because this was the first hole of the Masters, I was here. And I had to now hit a shot.

When we got to the first tee, I remember feeling a bit of wind at our back. I immediately turned to my caddie and suggested we don’t hit driver. He agreed and I was happy to not have to battle the two-way miss and tee up my 3-wood.

“Fore please, Michael Kim now driving …”

I had said those words many times as a kid, imagining what it would feel like to be stood on this tee, at the Masters. I didn’t think I’d be this nervous.

I don’t remember my swing thought or how my swing felt, I just remember hitting the face and finding the fairway. I could have fist-pumped, but I knew there was a long day ahead.

I had about 170 yards left and knowing how tough the first green is, we picked a spot in the middle and I pulled 8-iron. I hit it perfectly. Again, shocked to see the ball flying exactly where I was aiming, I posed. Clearly my adrenaline levels were high as the ball pitched about 10 yards further than I thought and hung on the very back edge of the green, about 20 feet from the hole. I even got a polite cheer from the crowd at the green.

Maybe this wasn’t going to be as bad as I had feared. Fairway. Green. I was 20 feet from opening with a birdie. However, my first “welcome to Augusta” moment was waiting. As I struck the putt, aiming just outside the left side of the hole, I thought I’d hit it well. But it went low early and rolled. And rolled. And rolled. It finished about seven feet past the hole. I couldn’t believe how much quicker the greens were today than during practice.

Seconds after fooling myself into thinking I was getting off to the perfect start, I was now staring at a sliding seven-foot par putt. But I made it. One hole down. Par. Phew.

We were off. I’d seen so many horror shows at the opening hole through the years, I practically skipped to the second tee. First driver of the week but at least it wasn’t in front of two thousands fans around the first tee. Good swing and a surprisingly good drive, down the hill, past the bunker. I hit it in the right greenside bunker but that’s kind of where we were aiming. Any miss left to that middle-left pin is game over. My bunker shot was pretty good but checked out more than I thought. I’m not sure I practiced many bunker shots early in the week into that much of a slope. However, a couple of minutes later and I was fetching my ball from the hole, having rolled in a 20-foot birdie putt. I was under par at the Masters. Let’s go.

The third is an amazing hole. No easy leave and although it’s just 350 yards, every player in the field would take four 4s there for the week. I hit a 4-iron, still unsure about how reliable my driver was going to be. I found the fairway and hit a perfect 9-iron into the middle of the green. I walked up to the green and thought “have I found something?” However, Augusta has a way of keeping those thoughts in check and while I thought I’d hit my 15-foot birdie putt pretty well, I faced a six-foot comebacker. I missed. Back to level par. Pretty annoyed but I hadn’t really hit a bad shot yet, just misjudged a couple of putts.

When you see the fourth hole on TV, it looks like a good par 3 with a big green. But when you’re standing on that tee with a 4-iron in your hand, it looks a lot longer, and harder. I posed over the shot, but I knew it was going to get there. Bunker. I tried to get crafty on the bunker shot and play it up a slope, past the hole, but it didn’t roll back. Now I faced a 15-foot par putt that I could breathe on to get it there, plus it had about six feet of break. Bogey.

Recall that 2019 was the first year the fifth hole had been lengthened, so I don’t know how much of a change the new tee and bunker placements have made. But I can tell you, this is the hardest hole on the course: 500 yards, uphill, to a wild green complex that looks more like a skatepark than a putting green. The false front is huge and 40 yards wide. It’s nearly impossible to get comfortable hitting an approach here. I hit a good drive and was pretty pleased to get it within 40 feet. Par.

I remember looking at my pin sheet with my caddie that Thursday morning and thinking “I thought that back right pin on 6 was just for Sunday?” I wasn’t confident of being on-site on Sunday so I didn’t think I would have to hit that shot. Sure enough early on Thursday afternoon, I was aiming at the right fringe of the green with an 8-iron. It went exactly where I aimed. Pin high, 20 feet away. Thrown off by a couple of early mis-judgements, when I hit my birdie putt on six, I thought there was a chance my next putt could be from 50 feet away, down the hill. Instead, it dropped in the middle of the hole. On rewatch, it was the perfect pace. Clearly the Augusta greens were just doing mind tricks on me already.

The seventh is another hole that TV doesn’t do justice. A hotel corridor of a fairway that cambers from left to right. Hit the fairway and it’s a birdie hole. Missed by a yard and you’d happily take par. My tee shot landed in the fairway but bounced into the first cut. I had to cut an 8-iron around the trees. It was my first shot from the rough all day and it showed. I nearly airmailed the patrons behind the green. Thankfully for them, it pitched into the back bunker. Not thankfully for me as that is maybe the hardest bunker shot I’ve ever hit. I landed it on the fringe but it rolled 15 feet past the hole. Bogey.

Note here, no screen or image can do justice to just how shallow that green is. It looks big because it’s wide but it’s perched and can feel like trying to land a ball on a dinner table turned sideways. Yardage book note, hit the fairway.

You might think players could carry the bunker on the eighth hole. I’m sure I’ve seen that in the past but it’s all you can see and think about on that tee shot. I hit a good drive but it leaked and found the middle of the bunker. I actually recovered well, getting my lay up beyond the steep slope and in-vision of the green. It’s one aspect of Augusta National I really liked. It lets you hit the ball out of position but also lets you recover. You think about all the great escape shots you’ve seen there. You don’t get that at every course. A poor swing later and a chunky wedge shot left me about 80 feet away. I was happy to walk off with a par.

I was one over par, playing the ninth, and honestly pretty happy with where I was. Some good chances coming up on the back nine and I was swinging it pretty well. That ended here. My first “big miss” off the tee and I knew it immediately at the top of my backswing. “Fore right!” I was so deep in the woods, I thought I might be at a shop or concession stand. I don’t think the patrons thought a player could hit it here. A long, successful chip out back to the fairway, and I was left with another one of those “Augusta shots.” If you’re confident and playing well, I think the second on nine is a fun shot to hit. There’s slopes to use, it can fit the eye of a player who can work it right-to-left. I was neither confident or able to reliably hit it right-to-left at the time. I thinned my 9-iron but somehow found the back of the green and two-putted for bogey. That hole was a perfect representation of the last nine months coming into Augusta.

Luckily on 10, I didn’t need to hit driver. I could hit 3-wood and just sling it round the trees. I found the left side of the fairway and then hit a great iron shot, below the hole, to the front right pin. And I holed it. Wow. I played the ninth hole like a 20-handicap and then the 10th hole like an Augusta veteran. Sadly I had no idea which player would arrive on the next tee.

Unfortunately, it was the former. You have to hit driver on the 11th hole, it’s just so long, but you don’t need to hit it way right in the trees. That was just me. I had that same gap that Tiger would have on Sunday through the trees to the green, but I knew I had to move it right-to-left in the air, and that wasn’t comfortable. After I hit my second shot, I knew. The fans didn’t, they cheered and hollered like I just hit the Bubba escape from 2012. I hadn’t. It hooked too much and found the water. Solid up-and-down from the drop area but another momentum-stopping bogey. Back to one over.

I love the 12th hole. It’s such a great hole and design, and I had actually hit good shots in my practice rounds here. My iron play was probably the only good part of my game at this time and so it suited my shape of shot. I hit a good shot here, aiming between the bunkers and finding the back fringe, just 15 feet away. I remember Patton Kizzire, my playing partner, having a hard time so I had extra long over the putt and while I should have been concentrating on the birdie look, I was already thinking about the next tee shot. I two-putted for par and pulled 3-wood for the par-5 13th before even having a chat with my caddie. I couldn’t pull driver on that next tee.

The landing area for a 3-wood is pretty generous, and I hit a good shot to the corner. I only had a 4-iron in but I knew where it wasn’t going to go, and that was short right. I hit it well but was likely a little excited and it carried about 10 yards further than we aimed for and rolled through the back of the green. Behind the 13th green is a sort of gutter of fairway, where balls just roll to the bottom and you have a downhill, but manageable chip from. Not for me though. My ball somehow hung up on the down slope of the gutter and although the pin was at the front of the green, I was closer to chipping it in the creek than near the hole. Two putts. Par.

The good thing about 14 is you pretty much hit the same tee you just hit on 13. I had just hit a good one so tried the same swing and hit it just off the right side of the fairway. For some reason that day, they had put the pin just on top of the false front on the right. I definitely hadn’t practiced around that pin position, and it showed. I hit a decent shot to 20 feet, but my putt never got within four or feet of the hole. It’s honestly one of the hardest pin positions anywhere on the course. I made the par putt though and was two over par after 14. I remember thinking I should be aiming to try and get back to level par but my game was in such a bad place, I just wanted to hit one decent shot after another and try and scramble my way in.

The 15th tee shot rivalled the one I hit on nine. Way right. No chance to go for the green and just a chip out. If it hadn’t been for the branches of the tree by the fairway, my lay-up would have been perfect. Instead it was in the rough, and some 160 yards away. It doesn’t matter if you have 60 yards or 260 yards into that green, especially with the left pin, it’s such a hard shot. I hit a decent 9-iron but maybe a little high on the face and it landed on the slope short of the green and I was walking to the drop zone before it splashed. The 160-yard shot was probably easier to hit than where I dropped. I hit a good wedge but my mind was spinning with the tee shot. I two-putted for double.

The 16th is another hole I like. It suits my eye. I remember thinking how big the green was in practice rounds. It’s probably 50 yards long and almost as wide. But when I stepped up there on that Thursday, I could have sworn the green was a third of the size! I hit a good shot into the middle-lower pin, albeit 20 or 30 feet short, and two-putted for par.

On the 17th tee, I knew I had to hit driver. If you don’t, you’ll struggle to get on top of the hill and have a view of the green. That being said, I just hit foul balls with my last three driver swings and that was in my head. I over-compensated and roped it left into the crowd. If I had played from the members tees that day, I might have actually scored well. My driver was a problem. I scrambled my second shot short of the green and actually made a great up-and-down.

One hole to go. But 18 was playing into the wind. Yup, I had to hit driver. I tried my best to picture all the famous tee shots of leaders coming to the 72nd hole there, but it didn’t work. I pulled it hard left again, hit a tree and barely made it to the fairway. Needless to say, I hadn’t practiced the 4-iron, round-the-trees approach into the last hole. And it showed. I hit the trees right of the fairway and shot across the hole, just short of the greenside bunker. Just get me home, I thought. This was getting embarrassing. The pin was up the back of the green and I knew I just had to get it on that level. I hit it to 20 feet and somehow, somehow, rolled in the perfect putt for par.

My first Masters round. A 76. Fueled by driver anxiety but honestly, a lot of good shots as well. Watching it back definitely wasn’t as bad as it felt in the moment. Everyone has to learn Augusta, that was my school day there. This year, I’m returning for my third appearance. At least I know where to go for lunch.

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com