Just three miles away from his family home, Augusta National Golf Course in Augusta, Georgia, become the site of 27 year old Patrick Reed’s first major tournament win. The annual sith of this tournament, Augusta has had first time winners for the fourth consecutive tournament. Reed is a two time NCAA champion at Augusta State and is a five time PGA Tour winner. On Saturday April 8, 2017 winner Sergio Garcia draped Reed in the coveted green jacket.
After kicking off on Tuesday April 5, the ensuing days built up to a terrific climax on Sunday. Reed was not a favorite going in, and he didn’t receive much confidence throughout, despite having the lead. All eyes were rapt on bigger names, Rory McIlroy to be specific. With the leader in sight, McIlroy took a shot at Reed in an interview with CBS. “Really excited to go out there tomorrow, show everyone what I’ve got, show Patrick Reed what I’ve got,” McIlroy said. “All the pressure’s on him tomorrow. He’s got a lot of support there, and I’m hoping to come in and spoil the party.”
After delivering this message, a less than satisfactory Sunday performance caused McIlroy to let his career Grand Slam – a victory at the Masters Tournament, the U.S. Open, The Open Championship, and the PGA Championship in the same calendar year – slip through his fingers, making the Masters what Golfworld’s Shane Ryan calls McIlroy’s “white whale”. To accompany the McIlroy-Reed saga, Sunday’s final played out in cinematic fashion.
The final round began and McIlroy was the only one within reach of Reed. Heading into the final round, Jordan Spieth was nine shots behind. After some heroics at his nemesis, the 13th hole, by the 16th, he was tied with Reed at the top of the leaderboard. Calculated and known for his grit, Reed was aware of Spieth on his tail; however, Spieth was unaware.
Spieth became just the seventh player in Masters history to shoot a 64 in the final round. Despite Spieth’s efforts and a late run by Rickie Fowler, Reed made par on the 18th hole and edged Fowler by one. Reed is no longer in contact with his family; his support group is his wife and his brother in law, who also happens to be his caddie. Nevertheless, Reed’s family celebrated his win alongside of him, commenting on the moment they watched him win the Masters from the family home. “As we were all hugging as a family,” commented Reed’s father. “We said, ‘This is for Patrick too. We are all hugging him too.’”
