When Joshua Ryan woke up in his Norristown home on Tuesday morning, he was very calm, his mom Michelle said.
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On Monday, Ryan shot 3-under 67 at Philadelphia Country Club during the first round of the 126th U.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club, just 30 miles away from his home course 1912 Club.
“There’s no experience like staying in my own bed, eating my mom’s food,” he said about competing close to home. “She made chicken parm last night, so couldn’t complain. And just excited to be in my style of golf.”
Sleeping in his own bed and eating his mom’s home cooked meal seemed to fuel Ryan to shoot a 5-under 65 at Merion Golf Club Tuesday, earning medalist honors and the No. 1 seed heading into match play on Wednesday.
Ryan had only played Merion four times prior to the tournament. He competed in the 2021 Pennsylvania Amateur, but otherwise didn’t have much experience with the course. However, the bent grass and thick rough were conditions he’s used to.
Ryan, who recently won the Pennsylvania State Amateur at Oakmont Country Club in Pittsburgh, started playing golf when he was younger because his older brother, Caleb, played. He consistently attended his brothers’ tournaments and kept begging his mom and dad to play. Eventually, they signed him up and his love for the game took off from there.
Ryan was homeschooled and graduated from Commonwealth Charter Academy, a cyber charter school based in Harrisburg, before playing golf at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. When he received the offer to play golf from head coach Jeff Thomas, he accepted because of the school’s strong emphasis on Christianity, his mom said.
This is Ryan’s second USGA event and competing so close to home has made it even more meaningful.
“It’s awesome. There’s a lot of people who’ve never seen me play who were able to get out to watch this week,” he said. “It was super special.”
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Michelle said Josh thrives under the pressure of competing in front of a crowd. Luckily for him, the crowd showed out on Tuesday.
Members from the 1912 Club, his home course, took a bus and traveled to Merion to watch him. Former Liberty teammates were there, along with friends from his church.
“The first hole, I chunked a 3-wood and it went like 280 [yards]. The hands were shaking. We were pretty excited,” he said. “I wasn’t super nervous, just more excitement. Everyone kind of started buzzing right away.
“That was fun.”
Ryan graduated from Liberty in May, and is looking to become a professional golfer after the amateur at Merion.
On Friday, Ryan will turn 23. If he can continue the momentum he built during the first two days, it could make for a memorable birthday, he said.
“I mean, anytime you can tee it up at Merion, it’s going to be a good day. So on the birthday, that’d be really cool,” he said.
Ryan will compete in the first-round of match play Wednesday, with the top-64 still to be determined after play was suspended due to darkness at 8:09 p.m. on Tuesday night. Play will resume at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.
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