High confidence
Reed leads Masters for the first time
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Patrick Reed is leading a major championship for the first time, and his confidence is so high that he can only see what's ahead of him.
Maybe that's just as well at this Masters.
Reed started and finished the front nine with three straight birdies. He answered Marc Leishman's bold shot for an eagle by polishing off another run of three straight birdies. It added to a 6-under 66 and a two-shot lead over Leishman going into the weekend at Augusta National.
Right behind them are five major champions.
Nowhere near him are Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, the two names that generated so much of the buzz for a Masters that otherwise is living up to expectations.
None of it matters to Reed, who is going after his first major.
"Everyone wants to win, and if you don't believe you can win them, then you probably shouldn't be playing in them," Reed said. "I believe that if I play the golf that I know how to play that I can win majors. ... There's a lot of holes left, and I just need to go out and keep to my game plan, play some solid golf and just go out and continue shooting in the 60s and see if it gets the job done."
Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Henrik Stenson still have a say in that.
Woods and Mickelson probably don't.
Woods hit one shot into a cluster of magnolia trees and another into Rae's Creek. He didn't make a birdie until the 13th hole and had to settle for a 3-over 75, leaving him 13 shots behind. No one has ever won the Masters when trailing by more than eight shots going into the weekend.
"I'm going to have to shoot a special weekend and I need help," Woods said. "I'm not in control of my own destiny."
Mickelson smacked a shot into the trees try- ing to escape a forest and made triple bogey, deposited a tee shot into Rae's Creek on No. 12 for a double bogey and shot a 79, matching his worst score at Augusta National. He started the day four shots out of the lead. He ended the day making the cut on the number.
Even without them, the show is just getting started.