Patrick Reed vows to stay true to self
Title ‘lifted weight off ’ shoulders
It didn’t matter to Patrick Reed that Rickie Fowler made birdie on No. 18, the roars echoing back to the tee box where Reed was preparing to hit.
It didn’t matter to him that the Augusta National patrons desperately rallied behind Fowler and Jordan Spieth all afternoon, providing a lukewarm reception when Reed finished his par and slipped into the history books.
Reed didn’t need their support. The green jacket was all his with one stroke of the putter. Just like that, he forced his way into golf ’s most enviable fraternity and will forever be known as Masters champion.
“It’s like all the weight got lifted off my shoulders,” Reed said. “It was a really cool moment. I don’t think I’ll ever have a moment like that again.”
In the months that followed, it was the off-course moments that continued to define Reed. From a social media faux pas at Fenway Park (posting on Instagram the PGA Tour placed him in “the line drive section”) to a tense Ryder Cup exit, Reed’s path back to Augusta has been ripe with drama.
Maybe the only constant has been Reed’s refusal to play nice for the cameras or stray from his steadfast self-belief.
“I’ve always wanted to be very, very real to who I am,” Reed said. “It’s impossible to please everybody in this world.”
Here’s where Reed contradicts himself, in the media room at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Maui, while describing his Masters Champions Dinner menu: bone-in rib-eye steak, mac and cheese, creamed corn.
“I want to please everyone there,” Reed said. “It’s not just for me, it’s for all the past champions and everybody, and I want everyone to have a great time.”
It seems Reed cares only about pleasing the right people, which most weeks consists of wife Justine, caddie/brother-in-law Kessler Karain and a very tight inner circle.
2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson, a vice captain for the 2018 U.S. Ryder Cup team, describes Reed as a “fiery” competitor and world-class player.
Like the one he received after conquering Augusta National in 2007, Johnson expects a warm reception for Reed from the fellow green jackets.
“He’s a strong personality, I think, inside the ropes,” Johnson said. “I don’t think he’s necessarily overly strong outside. He’ll be welcomed as just one of the guys, and that’s the way it should be.”
Reed’s post-Masters results were steady but unspectacular, a fourthplace finish in the U.S. Open among the highlights.
Most memorable was his exit interview in Paris, during which Reed complained about not being paired with Jordan Spieth and sitting out of Ryder Cup matches twice, a shot at captain Jim Furyk.
U.S. teammates and vice captains have since agreed to keep the issue inhouse.
Furyk says he never had any issues with Reed before or during the Ryder Cup matches in Paris and that the team is ready to turn the page with Steve Stricker having been named captain for the 2020 edition at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.
“I’ve read quotes and I think we’re fine,” Furyk said. “It sounds to me like Patrick, the team, everyone’s on the same page. That’s important.
“You want those 12 guys to trust in one another and have respect for one another, and it sounds to me from everything I’ve read that we’re moving forward.”
Reed is always quick to move on, and a green jacket hasn’t changed his priorities. If anything, they’re even more honed in as he prepares for a victory lap down Magnolia Lane.
“To be able to play the final round that I did and to cap off the win, it just felt like the relief of getting your first major,” Reed said.
“Now it’s just go out there and attack as many as I can and then try to hold up as many trophies as I can and try to win the career Grand Slam at some point.” Titles and allies.
Nothing else matters.