REED STANDS TALL AS WOODS AND FOWLER SHOW PROMISE GOLF
▶ John McAuley looks at few talking points from the Augusta National Club after the end of US Masters
Reed won’t win popularity contest, but is deserving champion
Patrick Reed heard Rory McIlroy ramp up the pressure on Saturday night. He watched the experts on television downplay his chances.
When he arrived on the first tee of the final round of the year’s opening major, he listened to the patrons plump for his playing partner.
McIlroy was more popular, an American crowd rooting for the Northern Irishman and not the Augusta State alumni. Yet Reed never let it derail his quest for a first major.
In fact, it served as motivation. His 71 wasn’t great, but it was gutsy and gritty, did what champions do.
Reed is hard to warm to, but his determination runs hotter than most.
There was some good fortune – on 13, Reed’s ball somehow avoided Rae’s Creek – but he deserved the victory.
He slept on a 54-lead at a major for the first time, survived a charging Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler, rendered redundant those pre-round predictions. Yes, Reed is brash and boastful, full of marmite bravado. But boy can he play, too.
Rory all out of sync right at wrong time
In the end, if only for a moment, McIlroy was just another face in the crowd. He stood at the edge of the 18th green, reduced to a watching brief as Reed rolled in his four-footer to seal the Green Jacket.
It was supposed to be roles reversed. McIlroy had begun the day three shots back as Reed’s closest challenger but most people’s favourite to win and thus complete a career grand slam. Yet, he never seemed in sync aside from a precisei approach to the second green.
McIlroy concluded in tied5th, six behind Reed. He missed five putts from within 10 feet. As others lit up the leaderboard, he shot 74, superior to only four players.