Spieth-Reed form clutch Presidents Cup duo for USA
Some people just go together — Batman and Robin, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy, Bogie and Bacall.
Add to the list Spieth and Reed. The red, white and blue wrecking ball of Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed continued their destructive ways Thursday in the opening session of The Presidents Cup at windswept Liberty National Golf Club hard by the New York Harbor and in the shadow of the Manhattan skyline.
Never trailing in their match against Si Woo Kim and Emiliano Grillo, Spieth and Reed won three of the last four holes to close out a
5-and-4 pasting in foursomes as the USA took a commanding
3½-1½ lead.
Spieth and Reed are now 6-1-2 as a team in four events representing the USA.
“I really think it’s because we want to beat each other,” Spieth said of the team’s success. “We’re always cheering for each other, but each of us wants to make the winning putt, hit the great shot. It’s kind of a competition in itself that just works for us.”
There’s more to that, obviously. They both are exceptional around the greens and aren’t too bad on the greens, either. They both have experience on the game’s biggest stages, both know how to recover from errant shots. And each has a killer instinct that plays well in individual play and team play.
The two first hooked up as rookies in the 2014 Ryder Cup and went 2-0-1. In the lone match they played together in the 2015 Presidents Cup, they were victorious. In the 2016 Ryder Cup they were 2-1-1, twice beating Europe’s top tandem of Henrik Stenson and Justin Rose.
They’re an American destroyer reminiscent of the Spanish armada of Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, who were 11-2-2 in the Ryder Cup.
“Any time I’m able to play with Jordan, it just feels normal. It’s like a dream come true getting my boy back on the bag and being able to kind of go out there and play some good golf,” Reed said. “It’s always great to be able to know that you’re playing with someone that you have so much confidence in.
“It’s just one of those things that he and I are really comfortable playing with each other. We know how to help each other out, pick people up and also pull them back if they’re getting too excited. It’s just kind of one of those things that always clicked for us.”
Their confidence in each other really shines when the match gets close. They believe they have the advantage in those situations, especially because of the shortest clubs in their golf bags. So when their 4-up lead after seven holes was cut in half by the time they got to the 11th tee, they remained calm and played on. The two regained command when Spieth dropped a 33-foot putt for par to win the hole.
“I think it comes down to being on the greens. We’ve been very, very solid together. We believe each other is going to make it,” Spieth said. “We get confident in our reads and we put aggressive putts on it because we’re OK with leaving our partner something coming back.
“We do make quite a few putts together. That’s what ended up being the case today. We went from 4-up to 2-up and they had a little bit of momentum, and then we had a little flip on No. 11 and we won 11, 12 and 14 to close this match out. It was really with the putter.”