SAN DIEGO (BVM) — Professionals have different reasons as to why they have their career. Similarly, athletes have their reasons as to why they play a particular sport. Maybe it is because their parents wanted them to play something, maybe they conveniently live near a facility used for a specific game, or perhaps they picked a sport up by playing in junior leagues with their friends. Nonetheless, everyone has their own origin story. Ryan Tsukamoto’s is unique. 

In 2003, Tsukamoto was born and diagnosed with hypotonia, a muscular condition in which there is low muscle tone, leading to decreased muscle strength and stretchy ligaments. For the following seven years, Tsukamoto and his parents attended physical therapy to ensure he would get stronger as he aged.

Like most kids, Tsukamoto wanted to play sports but was limited to only a few because of his condition. For example, he could not play sports like football because of the contact experienced within the game. In addition, since most of his muscles were weaker than average, Tsukamoto’s parents were worried about the possible injuries he may endure, as any parent would be. So, when Tsukamoto was about five years old, his father, Wayne, had him try golf, the sport he played growing up in Hawaii. To his father’s liking, Ryan fell in love with the sport and picked it up rather quickly. Swinging a golf club was gentle on his muscles and easy for him to do because of his stretchy ligaments. After a few years, he got better and began playing in tournaments. 

Tsukamoto has played in many events over the past five years, including IMG Academy’s Junior World Golf Championship. There, all the best junior golfers worldwide come to play annually at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif. More recently, Tsukamoto has played in smaller events on weekends. He is currently competing in the Invitational at La Costa Resort, hosted by Future Champions Golf, in Carlsbad, Calif. The tournament’s first round took place Aug. 1.

Tsukamoto shot even par (72) during his first round, placing him one shot behind the leader, who is ahead of 54 other players at one-under. Tsukamoto’s scorecard may seem uneventful with the 16 pars he made, accompanied by only two birdies and two bogeys. Still, even par on any course after the first day of a golf tournament will always help put a player in contention.  

“I got off to a pretty good start, had some pretty consistent holes and I was hitting the ball really solid today,” Tsukamoto said. 

After starting with seven straight pars, Tsukamoto tried to make a move at the leader when he came to the eighth hole of his round. Standing on the tee, he stared at a par 5 that plays longer into the wind with water tracing the right side. He hit a good tee shot then striped a 3-wood from about 230 yards away from the green, managed to avoid the water and putted out to birdie the hole. 

“That was one of the better highlights of my day, hitting the 3-wood from like 230 with a lot of trouble right,” Tsukamoto said. 

He made the turn to the second nine at one-under-par, but unfortunately got into some trouble. On the par 3, 13th hole, he pushed a 3-wood right, leaving him a difficult second shot. He chipped up and two-putted to save a bogey but ended up bringing him back to even par. He finished his round with a few more pars, another birdie and one more bogey, which added up to 72 total strokes or even par. 

Tsukamoto continues to practice making putts from lengths he is not as comfortable with so that when he gets to tournaments, he can make them and convert more birdies. In addition, he keeps working on his mental game by focusing on the present shot and not what he has to do to make up for any mistakes he may have made earlier in his rounds.

Tsukamoto will try to pull ahead of the leader at the Invitational at La Costa Resort on Monday, Aug. 2.