Off-form Reed doesn’t want to let go of the green jacket

THE timing could hardly have been worse for defending Masters champion Patrick Reed.

Reed has claimed his game is in better shape now than at the same time last year.

And just three days later, Reed was still out on the course during his opening round of the Valspar Championship when his wife Justine called renowned coach David Leadbetter to ask him to take a look at her husband’s malfunctioning swing.

‘Justine asked me, “Hey, would you be prepared to just have a little look at Patrick? He’s struggling at the moment, he’s sort of lost a little bit”,’ Leadbetter said.

The move did not pay immediate dividends and Reed followed an opening 77 with a 75 to miss the cut.

Needless to say it is hardly the sort of form which raises hopes of Reed following in the footsteps of Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods in making a successful title defence at Augusta National.

‘My least favourite moment is going to be when I have to return the jacket and I’m not allowed to have it in my closet and wear it around the house and out at places,” Reed admitted.

‘It’s definitely going to give me motivation to go out and try to repeat it, because even the times I’m not actually wearing the green jacket, to see it sitting in your closet or in an area where you’re always walking by just gives you motivation and kind of picks me up.

‘You want to keep it around as long as you can. The only way you’re going to do that is continue winning at Augusta and continue winning the event so you can have it year in and year out.’ Reed has not won since holding off final-round charges from Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth at Augusta National last year, his third Ryder Cup appearance in Paris produced just one win in three matches and ended in defeat and recrimination.

Reed (left) blamed Jordan Spieth for the end of their successful partnership and claimed it was “not smart” of captain Jim Furyk to leave him out of two sessions, further damaging a reputation already suffering from stories of family fall-outs and accusations – which Reed strongly denies – of cheating and even theft from his team-mates at the University of Georgia.