Reed glad an ace was in the cards
Making a hole-in-one on an empty golf course deprived the Woodlands’ Patrick Reed of the cheers that typically accompany any great shot.
It did, however, do a whole lot for his score.
Reed one-hopped a 9-iron into the cup on the 165-yard, par-3 seventh hole at Winged Foot in the first round of the U.S. Open on Thursday. The ace helped him erase a double bogey on No. 5, and he shot a 4-under 66 to finish a stroke behind leader Justin Thomas after the morning session.
“Of course I was excited about it, but really I knew from that point that, hey, you need to settle out, get ready for the next hole,” the 2018 Masters champion said. “Around here at Winged Foot, every golf shot you have to pay attention to because you hit one poor golf shot, a lot of things can happen out here.”
Bad things.
Like what happened on the fifth hole, when Reed wound up in the left rough off the tee and then knocked his second shot into a fairway bunker with another 75 yards to the hole. He left his sand shot 20 yards short of the green and then three-putted from 60 feet for a 6.
Reed, who had never played Winged Foot before, said it is the kind of course that can turn a good shot into a bad one with a tough bounce or an unlucky roll onto the wrong side of a ridge.
“How do you react to that, how do you handle it?” he said. “I’ve always been very good forgetting what happened in the past, forgetting what happened on that one shot — move on and focus on what’s coming up.” And that’s what he did. On the very next hole, Reed punched it from the first cut at the front left of the green to within 7 feet, and then knocked that in for birdie.
On No. 7, Reed held his follow-through a bit while he strained to see the flight of his ball. He then tipped the bill of his cap before strutting over to bump fists with playing partner Hideki Matsuyama and their caddies.
Although there are no fans on the course for the pandemic-delayed tournament, a few volunteers let out a holler.
“It was unfortunate the fans weren’t here because that would have been an awesome experience,” Reed said. “It would have been nuts. Up here in New York, the fans are amazing. You go ahead and you hole out from the fairway, you make a hole-in-one, the fans will just go crazy.”
It was Reed’s second ace as a pro, having rolled one in on the 16th hole at the Shell Houston Open in 2015. That time, he milked the cheering crowd by racing his caddie to the green for the chance to pull the ball out of the cup.
Odds and ends
Phil Mickelson found a grand total of two fairways over a 5-hour slog through the thick grass, sand and greens that he couldn’t figure out. He three-putted twice over the final four holes — including once from inside of 9 feet — and finished at 9-over 79.
“I’m 9 over,” Mickelson said in discussing his plans for Friday. “I’ll play as hard as I can and enjoy the round.” …
Tiger Woods didn’t get the start he wanted — and needed — on a day when Winged Foot was at its easiest.
Woods finished his morning round at 3-over par and was already eight shots behind playing partner Justin Thomas’ lead. Back in his heyday, it wouldn’t seem insurmountable, but Woods has been burying himself with poor starts lately.
“Well, we have a long way to go,” he said. “This is a long marathon of a tournament. There’s a lot of different things that can go on. I just wish I would have finished off my round better.” …
Amateur Cole Hammer of the University of Texas and Kinkaid had a rough start, going 5-over on his first six holes. Birdies at No. 9 and No. 10 got him to 3-over before fell to 7-over for the day, tied for 132nd.