Reed never backs down from a battle
AUGUSTA, GA. — Match play is where Patrick Reed earned his bulldog reputation, but the final round of the Masters is not a team event.
It leaves the leader to stand alone, for as long as he can, while the roars come gusting up from every corner of the back nine, threatening to drown out his dream. And on this Sunday, the challengers never seemed to stop coming with the kind of fury that puts ancient records at risk.
Jordan Spieth missed the tournament record of 63 by one little putt that slid past the left edge on No. 18. Rickie Fowler made another major run, with a 67 that featured half a dozen birdies and required Reed to par the final hole or else join him in a playoff.
There were others, too, leaving Rory McIlroy as the only star to steer away from victory. He played in Dave George
Reed’s group but surprisingly not in his league.
So now that it’s over, now that the man in the azalea-pink shirt has fully blossomed as a major champion, Reed can pat himself on the back for being just plain Patrick. Nobody has to have his poster hanging on their wall at home. He’ll plaster this winning scorecard wherever he likes, with a 1-underpar 71 to finish and a tournament total of 15-under 273.
Do the math. He’s the man, one stroke better than Rickie, two shots better than Jordan and miles ahead of the talented but temperamental player he used to be.
“That was definitely the hardest mentally a round of golf could be,” said Reed, who kept his famous U.S. Ryder
Cup rhythm going, wrapping his Augusta National yardage book in a red, white and blue cover that shows the scuffs and the wear of previous battles, including a 1-up win over Rory in 2016.
“The biggest thing was when was I going to get out of my own way and just enjoy the ride and come play golf ? Just don’t worry about what’s at stake, not worry about the greens being so fast and so slopey or you can’t do this or you have to avoid that.”
Those sparkling scores of
69, 66 and 67 in the first three rounds were Reed’s first ever under 70 at Augusta National. He never looked scared, even on Sunday. Early in the round, he drove every crucial putt toward the cup with the hot pace of a man who never, ever wants to come up short again. If, for instance, his birdie try on No. 3 hadn’t been swallowed up by the cup, Reed said “it would probably still be rolling.”
When Spieth finally caught up, tying Reed for the lead with a long birdie putt on No. 16, it was important to provide an answer. That’s when Reed, playing four groups behind his fellow Texan, scored a birdie of his own on No. 14. It was the last one he got, but as it turned out the only one he really needed.
The gap between Reed and the others at the beginning of the day was too large. Spieth, the first-round leader, stumbled so badly in the middle of the tournament that he started Sunday nine shots back. Fowler, likewise, needed to go 12 under on the weekend just to make it close.
Still, the folks outside the ropes seemed to shout every name but Reed’s, wanting a back-nine shootout, knowing that Spieth and McIlroy and Greg Norman and other headliners had taken big leads to the back nine on Sunday before only to have that beautiful green carpet pulled out from under them.
Most of all, at least for half the day, there was the momentous story line of McIlroy going for the final leg in a career Grand Slam.
Bottom line, Rory bottomed out, missing the short eagle putt that could have pulled him even with Reed on No. 2 and stumbling so badly in a closing 74 that CBS decided not to bother showing his shots for long stretches. There was too much drama bubbling up in other pairings, and too many reasons to look away.
“It wasn’t as if nerves got to me,” said McIlroy, who got his fifth straight top-10 Masters finish. “I just didn’t quite have it.”
Spieth surely believed that he did, going 7 under through the first 13 holes. He won the 2015 Masters and just as famously threw the 2016 Masters away. This 2018 edition seemed to pull him in both directions, with a 66 to grab the Thursday lead and a 74 to set him back on Saturday. He’ll be in the mix every time this event is played, and he won’t begrudge anyone else for joining him near the top.
“It’s fun to battle Patrick,” Spieth said. “I love it. Everybody really loves battling Patrick because he loves it so much and eats it up. My only regret from the week was that I wasn’t playing with him at some point on the weekend so we would be able to kind of fire back and forth instead of me finishing up so early.”
This makes six PGA Tour wins for Reed, including Doral in 2014, when he proudly judged himself to be a top-five player long before the world rankings actually caught up to him.
“Honestly, I don’t ever really regret anything I really say,” said Reed, who with this win is up to No. 11 in the world. “I stand by my comments.
“I feel like I’ve played the golf I need to play in order to get where I want to be, and that’s to be the best golfer in the world. The way you’re going to do that is to perform in these big events and to win these big events.”
This is the fourth straight Masters in which the winner also earned his first major title. Who’s next?
Rickie sounds about right, if he doesn’t get one sooner.