AUGUSTA, Ga. — Asked what the biggest lesson is that he’ll take away from his weeklong Masters Tournament experience, Gordon Sargent paused for a bit, then grinned.
“Pro golf is harder than college golf,” he said.
Sargent, the reigning NCAA individual national champion, saw his trip to Augusta National Golf Club end Friday after a second-round score of 76. That put him 9 over par for the tournament and, with the projected cut line at 2 over par, on the outside looking in for the rest of the weekend.
Sargent would officially tie for 79th after the second round was suspended Friday before being completed Saturday.
But the Birmingham, Alabama, native remained outwardly positive after his second day playing alongside former Masters champion Zach Johnson and Australian Jason Day. Sargent, and many of those associated with Vandy golf, wore The Covenant School patches throughout the week in recognition of the fatal shooting that occurred there March 27.
“Even with some, like, pretty poor golf, there’s just so much you can take away from it,” he said. “I referenced that moment on the first tee … I started tearing up on the first tee just thinking about that because it’s like you never really think that’s going to happen to you until it does.
“I’m out here playing Augusta National, but there’s so many worse things going on. Even if I play terrible, you just have to have a good perspective, and I feel like I did a good job of that. I got frustrated and stuff out there, but if you keep things in perspective you can never be mad.”
Sargent, at 5 over par going into the day, teed off at 9:06 a.m. and was immediately in some trouble on the humid and swampy morning. His drive landed near some trees on the right side of the fairway. Then his third shot, a short chip, rolled downhill away from the hole.
Two putts later, Sargent had double-bogeyed No. 1.
He seemed to right the ship with a birdie on No. 2, but his nemesis, hole No. 3, reared its ugly head again. His tee shot went into the pine trees and rested near a root, forcing the 19-year-old to punch his second shot onto the fairway.
Sargent saved bogey on the hole, the first of two bogeys in a row, and then carded another double on No. 6.
As he did Thursday, however, Sargent found birdies on 7 and 8, and his par on 9 got him back to 3 over par at the turn. But his momentum was short-lived, thanks to bogeys on 10 and 11. Then three straight pars preceded his final birdie of the…
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