The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Patrick Reed comes from behind for 8th career victory
Patrick Reed made it hard for anyone to question his moxie.
A week that began with Brooks Koepka saying he thought Reed cheated when he was penalized for swiping sand in the Bahamas ended with Reed delivering clutch moments down the stretch Sunday to win the Mexico Championship.
Then again, Reed always seems to be at his best when it feels as though the world is against him.
Two shots behind with four holes to play in Mexico City, Reed ran off three straight birdies to overtake a faltering Bryson DeChambeau, closing with a 4-under 67 for his second World Golf Championships title.
Reed made it interesting in the end with a wild tee shot into the trees on the 18th hole at Chapultepec Golf Club, forcing him to chip back to the fairway. He had to twoputt from 35 feet for eighth victory of his PGA Tour career.
In a wild final round in which five players had a share of the lead — and four were tied heading for the back nine — DeChambeau appeared to seize control with five birdies in a six-hole stretch starting at No. 9. Everyone around him faltered — Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Erik van Rooyen — except Reed, who played bogeyfree until he only needed a bogey to win. DeChambeau failed to birdie the par-5 15th, missed the green on the 16th with a pin in a bowl that made birdies accessible, and then three-putted from long range on the 17th. He shot 65.
Reed never flinched with so much going on around him, on and off the golf course.
He has yet to shake whispers on the tour and heckling from the gallery over the Hero World Challenge in December, when video caught him twice swiping away sand behind his ball in a waste area in the Bahamas. Reed accepted the two-shot penalty and said a different camera angle would have shown his club wasn’t as close to the ball as it looked.
Reed, a former University of Georgia and Augusta State player, finished at 18-under 266 and moved to No. 8 in the world.
Rahm had a chance to reach No. 1 in the world with a victory, depending on how McIlroy finished. It was a moot point when the Spaniard took bogey on the par-5 11th and dropped another shot on the 14th with a short iron that went just over the green.
McIlroy was within one shot until going nine straight holes without a birdie.
Thomas lost the lead when he hit into the water on the par-3 seventh, and then made another bogey on the next hole. He then had to play a left-handed shot on the 10th on his way to a double bogey. He shot 73.
PUERTO RICO OPEN: Rookie Viktor Hovland, 22, became the first Norwegian winner in PGA Tour history, chipping in for eagle on the par-5 15th and racing in a 30-footer for birdie on the par-5 18th for a one-stroke victory over Josh Teater. Hovland overcame a muddy triple bogey on the par-3 11th with the late surge and shot a 2-under 70 to finish at 20-under 268. Teater closed with a 69 for a career-best second.