Reed shows at the Masters he’s more than a team player

AUGUSTA, Ga. — One of the messages Patrick Reed received for his hard-earned Masters victory came from Tiger Woods, who added a personal touch to his tweet of congratulations .

“At worst you have assured yourself a captain’s pick for next year’s Presidents Cup,” he wrote.

That’s still 20 months away in Australia and on nobody’s mind except for Woods’, mainly because he’s the U.S. captain for the 2019 matches. Much closer on the calendar is the Ryder Cup in France at the end of September. Reed moved to the top of the standings by grabbing his first major title.

If he wasn’t already a lock, he is now.

For the past four years, the Ryder Cup has defined Reed’s success in golf. He earned his way onto the past two teams by winning tournaments, including a World Golf Championship at Doral and a Fed-Ex Cup playoff event at Bethpage. And as much as Reed boasted after the 2014 victory at Doral that he considered himself one of the top five players in the world, he didn’t win enough to back up that statement.

That’s why his reputation was built more on playing for his flag than for himself. He was the Ryder Cup rookie who brashly pressed his finger to his lips to shush the crowds in Scotland when he was unbeaten in four matches, and who wagged his finger at Rory McIlroy at Hazeltine when he buried big putts on top of him. Major champion? Reed had not registered a top 10 in any of the biggest events until a runner-up finish in the PGA Championship last summer, and even then, he didn’t have a chance to win when playing the 18th hole. His record was even more suspect at the Masters. Reed had played 12 rounds at Augusta National without breaking 70, and only two of those rounds were under par.

One week changed everything.

The man who lives for red, white and blue is now associated with Masters green.

“He’s always been a fighter,” Rickie Fowler said after his third runner-up finish in a major. “He’s always been good at match play. It seems like a whole new animal comes out when he gets in Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. It’s nice that he’s on our team.”

Fowler showed some fight, too. He had six birdies over the last 11 holes. That didn’t do any good. Reed was solid as ever. The bigger the moment, the better he seems to play.

The question is whether that translates to more victories, and more majors.

“The Ryder Cup, it’s a totally different type of pressure,” Reed said. “You go to a Ryder Cup and you feel like you have a whole nation on your back. If you win or lose your match, you still have a bunch of other guys there that could pick it up.”

Reed was known for his toughness, but that didn’t necessarily translate to stroke play.

Maybe that’s why when he turned on the television Sunday morning with a three-shot lead, he heard plenty of flattering observations about his game without anyone thinking he was going to win. In five years on the PGA Tour, he had five victories. That might explain why he was an afterthought in so many conversations about the players in their 20s who seem to be taking over the game.

They won’t forget him now.