Patrick Reed hasn’t played at all since The Masters, but he incredibly finds himself in contention once again at the PGA Championship.
Reed was in the mix at Augusta National entering the final day, and was predicted to make a run at Rory McIlroy on the final day. Instead, he fell away late and finished outside of the top 12.
The 2018 Masters winner is seeking his second career major championship at Aronimink, and revealed what he learned at Augusta this year that could help him win the Wannamaker Trophy on Sunday.
Patrick Reed learned he has all the tools to win a major in 2026 at The Masters
It was a disappointing finish for Reed at The Masters, but there was plenty to take from the performance. According to the American it all came down to his inability to make putts all week.
Reed said that he learned that he was doing all he needed to claim a major championship this year, saying after his third round at Aronimink: “Well, at Augusta, I think the long — it felt like the longest putt I made was about six inches on the weekend. I made nothing on the weekend.
“So really felt like I was hitting some great putts there, felt like my speed was actually really well on the weekend. It was just kind of one of those things, the ball just didn’t go in the hole.
“What I really took from that is I felt like I was doing what I needed to do. I was hitting the ball well. I was hitting a lot of good iron shots and hitting a lot of quality putts. Really, I take a lot of positives from Augusta.
“Really, coming into this week, the game feels solid. Yesterday I felt like it just wasn’t that great, but you’re always going to have one of those days. Hopefully I got that out of the way, and I felt like today was a lot better. Hopefully tomorrow we can get off to a quicker start.”
The front nine of Aronimink is where all the birdies are, so he needs to get in rhythm early to get into the mix.
Patrick Reed praises the setup at Aronimink
The bunched field at the PGA Championship has been put down to the course setup by the likes of McIlroy, who says the difficulty of the pin placements means it’s difficult for anyone to separate themselves from the field.
But Reed is relishing the test that the PGA of America has given them: “The pin locations are difficult. There’s a lot of just slopes near the flags, a lot of change of direction near the holes. At the same time, I mean, it’s sunny. It’s been windy for three days. It’s getting crusty out there. The greens are getting faster and faster.
“It’s just one of those, when you have slopey, fast greens and you also add wind on top of it, if you’re 15 feet away, you’re playing 2 feet of break. Then all of a sudden you get to 4 feet, 5 feet, and now you’re sitting there going, okay, is this where it changed back? So is this a little flat, or is this going to keep snapping?
“Just it makes it a little bit more challenging, but at the same time, the good thing is I’m not the only one that’s been struggling with it.
“These greens are tricky, but at the same time, if you hit a quality golf shot, really the biggest thing is, if you leave yourself below the hole, you’re going to be able to attack it. But it’s not fun having those 5, 6, 7-footers above the hole all day.”
Reed is a purist, and appreciates a difficult test of golf. That puts him in good stead to snatch the win.
