Patrick Reed is well in contention to win his second major ahead of the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday.
Reed left LIV Golf back in January and is hoping to return to the PGA Tour from August onwards, when his ban expires.
The 35-year-old from Dallas, Texas, has been hugely impressive at the PGA Championship so far this week.
Patrick Reed has managed the test at Aronimink better than most this week, and he heads into the final round of the PGA Championship just three shots adrift of the leader, Alex Smalley.
Reed was in contention to win The Masters last month, but he fell away in the end, and he will have learned from that experience.
He certainly has the game to get the job done at Aronimink on Sunday.
Patrick Reed responds to Scottie Scheffler’s comments on the PGA Championship greens
On Friday, Scheffler said the pin locations at Aronimink were the toughest he has ever seen since he’s been on Tour.
“This is the hardest set of pin locations that I’ve seen since I’ve been on TOUR, and that includes U.S. Opens, that includes Oakmont. I did ask, I asked Fooch, who caddies for Justin Rose.
“He’s been around a long time — and I asked Teddy too — have you seen anything like this before? They said maybe Shinnecock is the only place they have seen that has pins that could compare to this.“
Reed was asked whether he agrees with Scheffler’s remarks about the greens at Aronimink and the comparisons with Shinnecock Hills.
“Oh, man. The thing is I don’t see Shinnecock in it at all,“ Reed said.
“Yeah, you see the slopes on the greens. You see slopes at Shinnecock. But there are so many flags this week that are either right on a crown or right in a valley where the ball — I mean, just if the ball’s two feet from the hole, it could go a complete different direction, or it could go from straight uphill to downhill. It makes it so hard on putting.
“I mean, the rough — the rough is almost — I mean, I can’t really say a U.S. Open. I mean, it’s close. I’ve had a couple lies I’ve stood there and I can only advance 50, 60 yards. But then you get some that sit up.
“It’s just different. I mean, I think that’s the easiest way. It’s a different challenge, and that’s the cool thing about it is it’s on its own.
“But the great thing about all the golf courses we play, no matter where it is, whatever major championship we’re playing, if you’re hitting the ball well and you’re putting well, you’re going to be able to handle anything. We’re the best players in the world, so when they throw a really hard challenge at us, that’s when the top players are going to show up.“
Patrick Reed on bunched leaderboard at the PGA Championship
Reed responded when asked whether he is happy that the leaderboard is so tightly packed with only one round left to play.
“Oh, for sure,” the American said.
“It definitely helps me out. I mean, we don’t want someone getting too far out ahead. I feel like this is one of those golf courses that, yeah, you might see a 5, maybe a 4, or maybe a 6-under par round, but this golf course is challenging enough. The greens are so severe and so fast that, even when you hit them close, you have to putt defensive. When that happens, it’s just hard to make a ton of putts.
“Really, with where the pin locations are, even with it playing hotter today, so the ball’s going farther, it’s still hard to get every iron shot close. I mean, the greens are firm enough that you’re just not able to spin them quite as much, so the ball’s bouncing, and you’re trying to use ridges to get the ball to the hole. So you’re going to have a lot of 15, 20-footers, 25-footers. When that happens, just the percentage of makes go way down.
“Yeah, it’s a great test. Hopefully the lead doesn’t get too far out there because, when it’s a congested Sunday, not always great for the competitor, but it’s great for fans.“
