Tiger still the man at Augusta
AUGUSTA, Georgia — Patrick Reed became famous playing for his country. He won for himself on Sunday and became a Masters champion.
It was never easy, just the way Reed likes it.
Rory McIlroy came after him early. Jordan Spieth roared to life with a final-round charge and briefly caught Reed with a 35-foot birdie putt.
The last challenge came from Rickie Fowler, who birdied the last hole to leave Reed no room for error.
Reed never flinched throughout a raucous afternoon at Augusta National.
Clinging to a one-shot lead, his 25-foot putt down the slippery slope on the 18th green ran three feet by the hole as Reed pressed down both hands, begging it to stop.
From there, the 27-year-old Texan calmly rolled in the par putt for a 1-under 71 and a oneshot victory.
“To have to par the last hole to win my first major, it definitely felt right,” Reed said from Butler Cabin, right before Sergio Garcia helped him into a green jacket.
The loudest cheers were for everyone else.
Reed earned their respect with two big birdie putts on the back nine, one crucial par putt and plenty of grit. He also had a little luck when his 80-foot putt across the 17th green hit the hole, keeping it only six feet away. He made that for par to stay in control.
Reed won for the sixth time in his PGA Tour career, though he was best known for the trophies he shared at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup.
He is ferocious in match play, especially the team variety, and his singles victory over McIlroy at Hazeltine in the 2016 Ryder Cup led to his nickname, ‘Captain America’.
“He’s not scared. I think you guys have seen that previous from the Ryder Cups and the way he plays,” said Fowler, who closed with a 67.
“He won’t back down. I don’t necessarily see him as someone that backs up and will let you come back into the tournament. You have to go catch him.”
Fowler did his best with three birdies in a four-hole stretch, and an eight-foot birdie on the final hole.
It still wasn’t enough. Fowler was runner-up for the third time in a major. He left the scoring cabin when Reed tapped in for par.
“Glad I at least made the last one, make him earn it,” Fowler said with a grin as he waited to greet the newest major champion.
“You had to do it, didn’t you?” Reed told him as they exchanged a hug. “You had to birdie the last.”
Spieth put up the most unlikely fight and was on the verge of the greatest comeback in Masters history.
The young Texan started nine shots behind going into the final round, and was inches away on two shots from a chance at another green jacket.
His tee shot on the 18th clipped the last branch in his way, dropping his ball 267 yards from the green. His eight-foot par putt for a record-tying 63 missed to the right as he settled for a 64.
“I think I’ve proven to myself and to others that you never give up,” Spieth said.
“I started the round nine shots back and I came out with the idea of just playing the course and having a lot of fun and try to shoot a low round.
“I wanted to finish strong and see what happens, something crazy happens.”
McIlroy, meanwhile, will have to wait another year for a shot at the career grand slam.
Trailing by three shots to start the final round, he closed to within one after two holes. That was as close as he came. McIlroy’s putter betrayed him, and he was never a factor on the back nine. He closed with a 74 and tied for fifth.
The gallery was clearly behind McIlroy, even though Reed led Augusta State to a pair of NCAA titles and briefly lived in Augusta.
He was met with polite applause on the first tee. The throaty cheer was for McIlroy, and it looked as though the 28-year-old from Northern Ireland atoned from shooting 80 in the final round and losing a four-shot lead.
Reed scrambled for a bogey on the opening hole. He failed to get up-and-down from a bunker on the par-5 second as McIlroy had a four-foot eagle putt to tie for the lead.
McIlroy missed badly, a sign of what was to come. He missed four putts inside 10 feet on the front nine, and blew a three-foot par attempt on the 14th.
Different about this victory for Reed was the fuchsia shirt he wore as part of a Nike if script. Reed always wears black pants and a red shirt because that’s what Tiger Woods does, and Reed has long modeled his mental game after Woods. “Be stubborn,” he once said about learning by watching Woods.
Reed went to the back nine with a four-shot lead over four players, and they all had their chances. That included Jon Rahm, the 23-year-old from Spain, whose chances ended when he went after the flag on the par-5 15th and came up short in the water. He shot 69 and finished fourth.
Reed’s only bogey on the back nine was at No 11 from a tee shot into the trees. He answered with a 25-foot birdie on the 12th, and a shot into eight feet at No 14 for a birdie that broke the tie with Spieth. He made all pars from there. That’s all he needed. He became the fourth straight Masters champion to capture his first major.
Reed once claimed after winning a World Golf Championship at Doral that he was a top-five player in the world, which subjected him to ridicule. This victory moves him to No 11. It also comes with a green jacket, which earns far more respect and notoriety.
AUGUSTA, Georgia — Tiger Woods was unable to conjure up his old magic at the Masters, but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm surrounding his return to Augusta National.
Woods, despite no chance of getting into contention on the final day of the year’s first major, was given a warm reception whenever patrons caught a glimpse of the fourtime Masters champion navigating the course in his traditional Sunday red.
For Woods, who battled back issues for years and had spinal fusion surgery last April, this marked the first time he competed in any of golf’s four major championships since 2015.
“It’s disappointing that I didn’t hit the ball well enough,” Woods said after capping his final-round 69 with a three-putt bogey at the 18th.
“But to be able to just be out here competing again, if you had said that last year at this particular time I would have said you’re crazy.”
Woods is only six tournaments into his comeback from injury and while he was unable to display the type of form that had him touted as one of the favorites this year, he remains upbeat for what lies ahead.
“Things are progressing,” said Woods. “I just didn’t do a good enough job this week ... but to be able to compete out here and to score like I did, it feels good.”
With hours to go before the final pairings teed off, Woods was by far the main draw on a cool morning at Augusta National, with fans offering words of encouragement each step of the way.
Long forgotten was the sex scandal that dogged Woods late in 2009 and ultimately cost him a number of lucrative endorsement deals. Also erased from memory was last year’s DUI arrest that produced a droopy-eyed booking photo.
And the fact that Woods began his round 18 shots behind overnight leader Patrick Reed was also not enough to spoil the party for supporters of the former world No 1.
“For some reason when you are front row in front of Tiger Woods ... you don’t even want to look at him because you are so scared,” Patrick Keim, a 22-year-old student from Auburn, Alabama, said as Woods made a par putt at the par-three sixth hole.
“The intimidation and the intensity is undeniable.”
Ever the competitor, Woods was still intent on making a move up the scoreboard and posted his lowest score of the week — a 3-under 69.
While not able to consistently produce the type of shots he once conjured on command, Woods twice triggered loud roars when he nearly aced the par-3 fourth and then again at the par-5 15th when his second shot stopped 29 feet from the pin before he converted the eagle putt.
The way Woods, a 79-time winner on the PGA Tour, tamed what was one of the most difficult holes all week is why some of his supporters feel the greatest golfer of his generation is far from done.
“It’s positive what he’s doing,” Ryan Godsey, a 41-year-old teacher from Greenville, South Carolina, said as Woods made birdie at the par-three fourth.
“I think he showed he will win again. It’s just a matter of time.”