Byrds feel absence of late father

There was high emotion inside and outside the ropes Thursday as former Clemson golfer Jonathan Byrd played his first Masters Tournament round without his father in the gallery.

Jim Byrd, who loved to watch his son play in the Masters, died in July 2009 at age 65.

"It's been a pretty good week so far," Byrd, who opened his fourth Masters with 73, said when asked about his father. "I've thought about my dad, but most of them have been fond memories. They far outweigh anything bad." Outside the ropes when Byrd teed off was his mother, Jo, who had "35 wonderful years" married to Jim Byrd, she said.

"After I hit my first tee shot, I saw my mom and went over and kissed her and she was bawling and it wasn't because I was playing in the Masters," Byrd said. "It was because she was missing my dad." Jo Byrd also cried in 2003 when her son teed off in his Masters debut. So did Jim Byrd.

"I don't think I ever saw Jimmy tear up -- he wasn't a crying man," she said. "When Jonathan got to the tee, I looked over at him and he had big tears in his eyes. ..."

Byrd's brother Jordan, a former Furman golfer who is now an assistant Clemson golf coach, said: "We couldn't believe Jonathan was playing."

Byrd, who parred the first hole Thursday and ended up with three birdies and four bogeys, said the emotion of playing without his dad didn't affect the way he played.

"I just wasn't sharp," he said.

Byrd's wife, Amanda, said he didn't talk much about his father in the days going into the Masters. "I'm sure he missed him a lot, but he didn't say much because I think that would make him more sad," she said.

As usual, she walked the round with Jonathan, along with her mother, brother Jordan and other friends and family. She said she sees many similarities between Jonathan and his father.

"At the Par-3 on Wednesday, all the members were on the tee box giving the yardage, and he said hey to all of them and shook their hand and called all of them by name," she said. "That's just what his father would have done and taught him to do. Jonathan is not super outgoing, but he is friendly and respectful."

Jonathan Byrd said his father was a "you've got to prove it me" kind of guy.

"He didn't think I'd make my high school golf team," he said. "Not seriously, but kind of the back of his mind. At every stage, he would kind of feel like, 'That's not going to happen. He's probably not going to be able to win out here or make it on tour,' or whatever. Each time, I kind of proved him wrong in a fun way."

Jordan Byrd thinks he knows why his father acted that way.

"He grew up in a really small high school and he was the star athlete," Jordan Byrd said. "Our high school had 2,800 students and it was a totally different world than the one he grew up in."

Jonathan Byrd thinks his father would be "more proud" of the two victories in the past six months -- and all the tournaments it got him in -- than his Masters appearance. The first win, in Las Vegas, was Byrd's first since 2007. "He would be overjoyed with all of it," Byrd said.

Reach David Westin at (706) 823-3224 ordavid.westin@augustachronicle.com.