THE LOCAL ANTI-HERO
Reed has family ties to Augusta, but few will cheer if he holds off the challenge of a storming Rory today
THIS thrilling 82nd Masters is carrying distinct shades of 1987, when a man with firm Augusta connections held off a high-class leaderboard to claim the green jacket.
There, the comparison between the archetypal Southern gent Larry Mize and Patrick Reed must end.
While Mize remains one of this gentle city’s favourite sons, the sight of Reed establishing a fourshot lead over Rory McIlroy late in the third round yesterday as he bids to follow in Mize’s footsteps produced a decidedly different reaction, with plenty of one-handed clapping among the patrons.
Indeed, a newspaper based just four hours away has claimed that even his parents would have mixed feelings if Reed won — if they had any feelings at all.
‘Reed has turned his back on his own parents, who live here in Augusta but have no relationship with their son, his wife Justine, or their young grandkids. It’s a sordid tale,’ wrote Ed Hardin, in a brave, no-holds barred piece in the Greensboro News and Record, that underlined in no uncertain terms the feelings of many Augustans.
While Reed’s parents were certainly patrons at one point, it is not known if they’re here this year. What is known is that, at a recent Masters, Justine had a guard walking by her side in case she was approached by Reed’s father. Two years ago, Reed’s sister Hannah underlined the toxicity when she posted a lengthy Facebook missive on why her brother was a ‘horrible, selfish stranger’.
‘While the feelgood story oozing out of the airways this weekend [about Reed] will sound nice, there are people here in Augusta who cringe at the thought of Reed putting on a green jacket on Sunday,’ wrote Hardin.
It’s safe to assume their number include some of his old Augusta college team mates — he went there after being forced to leave the University of Georgia, in myst erious circumstances — who accused him not only of cheating but stealing from them.
When the allegations surfaced in a book about the PGA Tour in 2015, Reed went on the attack, doing an interview with America’s Golf Channel where he vehemently refuted the claims — only for one of his coaches to go on record and say he thought everything in the book was accurate.
Concluded Hardin: ‘His previous rounds here suggested there were t oo many i ssues in t his t own between him and a shot at a Masters title. In fact, before Thursday’s 69, Reed had never broken 70 at Augusta National. He’s never finished in the top 20 and, before today [ Fr i d a y ] , n o - o n e h e r e really believed he would ever be a threat to win.
‘ Now, t hey’re suddenly concerned.’
To be fair, Reed has gone some way to rebuilding his reputation since turning pro. He is invariably approachable and articulate with the media. It has helped that he has enjoyed a fine PGA Tour career to date, and particularly with his performances at the Ryder Cup, where he was America’s best player in 2014 and 2016.
But, after only three years on tour, he was voted the second least favourite player among his peers, while even his Ryder Cup playing partner Jordan Spieth must have been perturbed when Reed had a sly dig at him recently.
After a rules decision went against Reed at the Valspar Championship in Florida last month he said: ‘I guess my name needs to be Jordan Spieth.’
Still, the scorecard doesn’t take into account a man’s alleged transgressions or popularity and what no-one could dispute is that Reed played some brilliant golf to establish his two-shot lead at halfway, and so it continued into the third round.
Even the patrons who aren’t his biggest fans must have grudgingly admired the way he shrugged off a slow start to maintain his lead — and even extend it.
What a truly spectacular third round this was turning out to be.
The forecast had declared the chance of rain at 100 per cent, and it duly started falling from 9am onwards.
Nevertheless, we had McIlroy revelling in the softer greens by taking dead aim and reaching the turn in 31 shots. We had Spaniard Jon Rahm continuing his amazing recovery from an opening 75 by shooting one 10 shots lower — the best score of the tournament to that point.
But Reed took it all in his stride. The holes around the turn are supposed to be ones where you just get your pars and move on but Reed, one of the great putters in the modern game, rolled in a 30ft effort at the 9th and birdied the 10th as well.
Even a dropped shot at the 12th failed to halt his momentum as he struck two magnificent blows to the par five 13th and rolled in the eagle putt. At that point he was four strokes ahead, and his nearest pursuer was McIlroy.
Here’s how good McIlroy was over the front nine. At the 5th Sir Nick Faldo described his fairway bunker shot as one of the most incredible blows he had ever seen. By the ninth it might only have been his third best on the outward half.
He followed it by striking his tee shot to 12 inches at the 6th and then holed a chip shot from 20 yards at the 8th for an eagle three.
Alongside birdies he had made at the third and fourth — a difficult hole for him in the past — it allowed him to reach the turn in a wonderful five under par.
The quest for the career Grand Slam had taken an exciting turn.
As the rain cascaded down at the par five 13th, however, he hooked his approach shot into the azaleas and, for one awful moment, it looked as if he would lose his ball. But he found it and played a wonderful shot from the middle of the flora into a swale at the back of the green, from where he chipped and putted for an eventful par.
And still he could make little impression on the frontrunner. But it was all shaping up nicely, and what appeared likely to be Reed v McIlroy for the green jacket — 18 months after their momentous singles battle for the Ryder Cup.
It will be interesting to see whose side the patrons are on.