Still hoping Rory can one day get his career Grand Slam

PATRICK Reed held his nerve to hole a tricky little three-footer on the final green to beat off late challenges from Ricky Fowler and Jordan Speith on Sunday at Augusta and claim the green jacket, his first major, but watching on TV, I got the impression that he was far from a popular winner and that the American galleries would have much preferred a Speith or a Fowler win?

I could understand if the tournament was in Europe where Reed clashed with European supporters at the 2014 Ryder Cup matches, but in front of his own people and in a state where he went to college, I fail to see why the galleries didn’t erupt when he entered the final green like they had earlier for Fowler and Speith.

Even Rory McIlroy got a better reception from the crowd than the man who proved all the doubters wrong in winning but maybe there’s something we don’t know about Patrick Reed?

What led to McIlroy’s collapse is something that only he knows, as he looked a sure bet after three rounds when the pressure at that stage was on Reed who held a three-shot lead.

Rory was hitting fairways all week and holing putts for fun but even his opening tee shot on Sunday showed signs of nerves and when he missed the three-footer for eagle on the second green, you got the impression that maybe it just wasn’t going to be his day as he missed a succession of putts that he could have holed with his eyes closed, earlier in the week.

Between the completion of round three and the beginning of round four, the popular opinion from all of the ‘experts’ on social media was that Reed wouldn’t hold his nerve and that Rory’s time had come to join the immortals: Sarazen, Hogan, Player, Nicklaus and Woods in winning a career Grand Slam, but it wasn’t to be on this occasion.

I’ve never been Rory’s biggest fan and have been critical of him to the point that on one occasion, a reader wrote a letter of complaint about me to the editor, but I genuinely wanted him to win the Masters this time as I think he has done a lot for golf and especially the younger generation taking up the game, just like Tiger did before him.

Hopefully, his time will come, but of course the longer it goes on, the more pressure he will feel to get this monkey off his back and complete the grand slam.

However, for now we must hail Patrick Reed, a deserved champion, with nerves of steel.