Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Reed-McIlroy pairing in final round could feel familiar.
American-European pairing in final round could feel familiar
AUGUSTA, Ga. — You think Rory McIlroy’s eagle chip-in on No. 8 elicited roars from the Masters patrons? You should have heard how the European media reacted to McIlroy holing out on 18. No cheering in the Press Building?
Some of that reaction can be attributed to patriotism. But don’t discount the desire for Sunday drama. McIlroy’s 17-foot birdie on the last hole cut Patrick Reed’s lead to three shots, setting up what could be an epic final round — and a kinda, sorta Ryder Cup rematch. You know what makes golf fun? Mind games. And McIlroy wasted no time trying to get in Reed’s kitchen.
“I want to show everyone what I’ve got, show Patrick Reed what I’ve got,” he said in his interview on CBS. “All the pressure’s on him. He went to Augusta State and has a lot of support here. I’m hoping to spoil the party.”
Reed (14-under) responded with little more than a shrug. Is the pressure on him?
“I am leading,” he said. “I guess so.” What makes the final pairing
so delicious is what transpired when McIlroy and Reed went head-to-head at the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in Minnesota. The RyderCup.com game story opened with this description: “Incredible. Sensational. Unbelievable. Ridiculous.”
The match featured primal screams, spirited fist pumps, a bow (by McIlroy), a mocking bow (by Reed) and Dikembe Mutombo finger wags. After Reed made a bomb and wagged his forefinger directly toward McIlroy, the Northern Irishman showed good sportsmanship, offering a fist to pound.
Reed closed out the match with an 8-foot birdie putt on 18.
“I’m not out there to play Rory,” Reed said Saturday after shooting 67, his third round in the 60s. “I’m out there to play the golf course.”
And: “It will be calmer. There’s a lot of stuff you can do at the Ryder Cup that you can’t do at Augusta National. You’re talking about polar opposites — match play versus a major championship. The fans will cheer for whoever makes putts.” On that point McIlroy agreed, saying: “It’s not Europe versus America. Hopefully it’s not such a partisan — or bipartisan — crowd. I know that there will be people out there wishing me well.
“So it won’t be quite as intense
as that Ryder Cup match, (but) I think we’ll still be feeling it. It’s the last round of a major championship. Patrick is going for his first and I’m going for … something else.” McIlroy (11 under) is going for
the career Grand Slam, attempting to join Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. (Are we allowed to mention that, Rory?)
Reed will look to spoil McIlroy’s party. So will Rickie Fowler (9 under) and Jon Rahm (8 under), who equaled McIlroy’s third-round 65.
The oddsmakers have it like this: Reed, 6-5; McIlroy, 7-4; Fowler 7-to-1. Woods found a novel word to describe his iron play —
“scratchy.”
“I feel like I’m driving it better than I have all year,” he said after shooting 72, “and I’m hitting so many good putts. My swing’s just off with my irons — at the wrong time.”
Woods did hit a sweet iron into 12, knocking it to 11 feet. He responded, quite comically, by raising his arms in celebration. It was in response to dunking his tee shots into Rae’s Creek on Thursday and Friday.
“I just couldn’t do it three days in a row,” he said. “I gave it a little bit more gas.” Matthew Fitzpatrick did
something Saturday to which we all surely can relate: He did not miss a fairway, going 14 for 14. No first cut, no fairway bunkers, no pine straw. No surprise, he’s one of just two players to have a perfect driving round this week, joining Louis Oosthuizen, also in Saturday’s third round.
The 23-year-old Englishman, who played one season at Northwestern, said what helped were breeze-free conditions: “We played 12 (holes) just completely still. It was like perfect golf, really. So that was pretty nice.”