REED IT AND WEEP
Fiery American reckons his Ryder Cup exploits will have British fans backing Birkdale glory bid
PATRICK REED was the man they loved to hate. Now they just love him.
The fiery American reckons brashly wearing his heart on his sleeve will have the British fans backing his bid for Open glory just as much as they once railed against his extreme Ryder Cup exploits.
Reed burst into the spotlight at Gleneagles in 2014. Fist-pumping, hollering, raising a finger to his lips and telling the home galleries to shush as he nailed putts while wearing the Stars and Stripes against Europe.
His country lost in the Heartlands of Scotland but when they won at Hazeltine last year their talisman was at it again. Reed was brilliant. Leading from the front, charging up the fans, he broke European hearts.
In the final-day singles he eyeballed the visitors’ top man Rory McIlroy and took him down. It was the ultimate head-to-head shootout and, fittingly for a man from Texas, he had too many guns.
Reed knows the Europeans didn’t want him to triumph but also knows he did win their respect. Giving it large, mouthing off. Such acts are an open door for derision if you don’t back it up.
But Reed does and feels that is what will have the Birkdale galleries firmly behind him as he chases the Claret Jug.
He said: “I feel like because of what happened at Gleneagles in 2014 it built into the fans kind of being on my side and having my back even though I was on the wrong team.
“I think I won people over. It seems like every time I come over here now the fans are awesome and cheering me on. That’s great to see. Does it surprise me? No, not really. Knowing the people here, they respect and want to see good golf.
“They like to see that fire and passion and see guys play well. Now if I did that and didn’t play well at Gleneagles, or if I had acted like a fool, I could understand them not respecting me because I was not respecting the game.
“But respecting the game and having some fun with that, I knew they’d be okay with that. I knew they would give me a hard time that day and they had every right to but it was so much fun.
“That’s what everyone wants to see. They want to see people competing as hard as they can, never giving up and playing some good golf.
“It’s awesome every time I come back and see how nice they all are. It has been like that at every Open. I wouldn’t think Birkdale would be any different.”
In a game packed with monotone characters, Reed’s a personality. An individual who gets spectators going. If attitude on the course took shots off your score Reed would be five under par before the event started on Thursday.
Sometimes he gets too feisty. Three years ago in China he landed deep in hot water for a homophobic slur laced with profanities after a bad hole.
Reed muttered: “Nice f***ing three-putt, you f***ing f **** t” after missing a short par putt.
It says something when you subsequently seek out Bubba Watson for advice on better behaviour.
Yet he’s calmed down and in any case off the course lies a different man. Calm, cool, relaxed, the 26-year-old has grown up as a person and a refreshed outlook means he has the approach needed to win this week.
Reed, who was victorious last week at Dundonald in the Hero Challenge ahead of the Scottish Open, said: “I feel like creativity is huge at The Open. You need to be patient but I’m not the best at being patient. I’m working on it.
“There are a lot of times when I push too hard and those are the times when nothing seems to go your way because you try too hard.
“I just need to get into my head there will be stretches when it’s blowing 30 miles an hour and freezing. It’s those kind of things you need to deal with and learn to ride out and deal with your mistakes.”
Reed’s focus now is on Merseyside. Success at Southport would see him join an illustrious American cast. Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Mark O’Meara have all sauntered to wins at Birkdale and adding their names to the list is a huge incentive for the boys from the States.
Reed said: “I haven’t played there but I’ve heard so many great things from so many other players. They say it is an amazing golf course and I just need to tighten everything up a little bit.
“Back home in the States you just fly the ball everywhere. I feel I have become good at figuring out where I need to land it, what hill I need to use to be able to bounce the ball and get it to the hole.
“The biggest thing is being patient because you’re going to have a stretch there where it’s going to be windy and nasty and you will feel you’re on the wrong side of the draw when that happens. But everyone has had a bad draw at some point.
“Being able to ride it out and put together solid pars, make a birdie here or there, just keep yourself alive, rather than catastrophically imploding and making bogeys. That’s a big thing about The Open, if you are on the right side of the draw you have to go and capitalise.
“But if you are on the wrong side the only way you are going to have a chance to win is by hanging in there until you get to the weekend or a good stretch of weather to go out and attack.
“Is it my best chance of a Major? Yeah, you just never know. At the end of the day you can have the perfect game plan but if you’re not playing well it doesn’t matter.
“That’s the key, you have to click and play well at that time. I am trying to set myself up to where I feel I can play my best golf and go out there and chase it.”
I think I won people over. It seems every time I come over here the fans are cheering me on PATRICK REED CRAIG SWAN