Reed regains his Masters touch
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Patrick Reed has clawed his way back to the top of the golf world. And his timing couldn’t be better.
Reed overcame a shaky start to Sunday’s final round and pulled away from the field with two late birdies to win The Northern Trust.
Reed shot a 2-under 69 to finish at 16-under par, one shot ahead of Abraham Ancer and two shots ahead of Harold Varner III and Jon Rahm.
This was Reed’s first win since the 2018 Masters, where he captured his first major championship. And now Reed, who less than three months ago was struggling so much that he took a few weeks off to hit the reset button on his game, has given himself a real chance to be the last man standing in the PGA Tour’s post-season.
The Northern Trust is the first event of the three-event FedEx Cup playoffs, and Reed’s win catapulted him all the way from 50th to second in the standings.
The winner of the Tour Championship in two weeks will finish atop the standings and capture a US$15 million prize.
It was an impressive, but uneven performance. Reed came into the Sunday with only one bogey in his first 54 holes. And when he started the final round with a birdie, he seemed poised to pull away.
But then Reed bogeyed his next three holes to fall out of the lead. And when he made bogey on the par-5 sixth hole, it looked as if he might have to wait longer for his next win.
From there, however, Reed seemed to settle down. A solid chip set up an easy birdie at the par-5 eighth hole, getting him back to even par for the day.
Then, Reed closed strong. He hit the green in regulation on holes nine through 14, hitting a fantastic shot to eight feet at the par-3 14th, converting the birdie to retake the lead. He missed the green short and right at 15, but muscled a pitch to 10 feet and drained the par putt.
And at 16, he hit his short approach shot to thee feet for an easy birdie to give him a two-shot cushion for the final three holes.
Corey Conners, of Listowel, Ont., was the top Canadian at 8 under after posting a final round of 2-under 69. Adam Hadwin, of Abbotsford, B.C., also shot 69 Sunday and finished at 4 under.
Roger Sloan, of Merritt. B.C., struggled Sunday with a final round of 74 to finish at 1 under, one stroke ahead of Mackenzie Hughes, of Dundas, Ont. (73).