Adversaries are set for showdown
AUGUSTA, Ga. – They dueled again Saturday, not head-to-head this time but one pairing apart, the roars ringing in their ears and shaking the loblolly pines to their roots.
Neither one would back down. Of course, they wouldn’t. There is no backdown in Patrick Reed, aka Captain America. There is not a fearful bone in Rory McIlroy’s body. They are pit bulls in polos and they are sinking their teeth into Augusta National.
Two years ago, they met in a Ryder Cup singles match that defied description. Google it, if you need a hit of goosebumps. Then settle in front of your TV for the encore Sunday afternoon.
Reed and McIlroy will go toe-to-toe again, the final pairing in the final round of the 82nd Masters. Both are on the cusp of career-defining moments.
“Patrick is going for his first (major championship title),” McIlroy said, “and I’m going for something else.”
That would be the Grand Slam. Should McIlroy overtake Reed, who will start the day with a three-shot lead, he would become the sixth man to win all four of golf ’s majors, joining Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Tiger Woods.
Reed eagled the par-5 13th and 15th holes and shot a scintillating 67 in offand-on rain that softened Augusta National’s greens just enough to bring them down a notch from terrifying. He was at 14-under 202 and can become the first man in Masters history to break 70 in all four rounds. He also has a shot at breaking the 72-hole scoring record of 18-under 270 held by Woods and Jordan Spieth.
McIlroy took advantage of several huge breaks to fire a 65 and was at 205. He has finished in the top 10 at the Masters in each of the last four years, but his best chance to win came in 2011, when he took a four-shot lead into the final round but shot an 80, lurching around the back nine like a zombie.
“I’ve been waiting for this chance, to be honest,” McIlroy said. “I always have said that 2011 was a huge turning point in my career. It was the day that I realized I wasn’t ready to win major championships, and I needed to reflect on that and realize what I needed to do differently. But now I am ready.”
Victories in the U.S. Open (2011), the British Open (2014) and the PGA Championship (2012, ’14) leave no doubt about his ability to close the deal.
Sure, someone else could come from behind Sunday. Rickie Fowler and Jon Rahm of Spain, who also shot 65s, are five and six shots back, respectively. They’re still in the game and have nothing to lose. Neither has won a major.
“If you can get a really good start on that front nine and post a good score, that back nine can be extremely long for the leaders,” Rahm said. “We know what can happen on that back nine on Sunday. It’s happened many times where a big lead disappears.”
Yes, it’s possible Reed and McIlroy, who have combined for 31 birdies and three eagles, could go stone cold. Possible, but not likely. McIlroy has the kind of firepower that can turn the brawniest of courses into a pitch-and-putt. Reed has some steel in his spine. He’s not known for spitting the bit.
“I feel like all the pressure is on him,” McIlroy said, perhaps employing a bit of gamesmanship. “He’s got to go out and protect that (lead) and he’s got a few guys chasing him that are pretty bigtime players. He’s got that to deal with and sleep on tonight.”
Reed’s response, in so many words: Bring it.
“I’m not out there to play Rory,” he said. “I’m out there to play the golf course. At the end of the day, if I go out and feel pleased with how I play, then it should be an enjoyable Sunday night.”
In the 2016 Ryder Cup, the Texan Reed and Northern Ireland's McIlroy played a singles match for the ages at Hazeltine National in suburban Minneapolis.
McIlroy was 1-up through four holes and birdied five, six, seven and eight … and lost ground to Reed, who played those holes in 5-under. After McIlroy buried a 40-footer on No. 8, he held his hand to his ear and shouted, “I can’t hear you!” to the partisan crowd. Reed answered, ramming home a 25-footer and wagging his finger at McIlroy, who could only laugh.
Reed went on to win, 1-up. In nine career Ryder Cup matches, he has won six, halved two and lost just one. Captain America, indeed.
“The biggest thing I can pull from it is
I was going head to head with Rory and I was able to put together a really good round,” Reed said. “When he tried to make a counter, I was able to stay ahead and keep going.
"You know, it’s completely different (now). You’re talking about match play to stroke play and you also have Rickie, Rahm, (Henrik) Stenson, (Tommy) Fleetwood and Bubba (Watson) right behind us.”
Playing in the pairing in front of Reed on Saturday, McIlroy jarred a pitch on the par-5 eighth hole for eagle and made spectacular par saves on Nos. 12 and 13, and made an amazing birdie on 18, each one earning a ground-shaking roar. On the 13th, in the pouring rain, he hit his second shot over the green and into the azalea bushes but was able to find his ball, punch out, chip on and save par.
“It was a sea of pink,” he said. “I was lucky just to see the ball. I could take a stance and just sort of pick the club straight up and get it back down on top of (the ball) and just trundle it out through the pine straw and back onto the grass.”
Reed heard the roars. But he responded with birdies on Nos. 8, 9 and 10 – the fourth time in two days that he made three consecutive birdies – and eagled both par-5s on the back.
“Whether he makes birdie or eagle on a hole,” Reed said, “I still have that hole to play.”
That won’t be the case Sunday, when they’ll be side by side. Reed didn’t deny that he’ll have some pressure on him, but he threw it right back at McIlroy.
“He’s trying to go for the career Grand Slam,” he said. “I mean, honestly, I woke up this morning and felt fine. Didn’t feel any pressure. Just came out and tried to play some golf. And I believe that’s how it’s going to be tomorrow. Wake up and just come out and play golf and whatever happens, happens.”
Whatever happens, it should be fun. For one of them and all of us.