Patrick Reed showed many critics what he is really made of as he gutted out his Masters win with a less than stellar Sunday round. But a green jacket is a green jacket and his professional life is changed forever.
Reed is a scraper, a bulldog and from an outsiders perspective maybe a bit of an outsider. Even with his Ryder Cup heroics he has at times been, arrogant, abrasive and fairly unlikable. But with a Masters title, green jacket and all that goes with that things are about to change. First things first: get this guy an equipment contract! With no contract he plays a mixed bag, and I mean mixed. You’ll find a Ping driver, Nike 3-wood, a mix of Callaway and Titleist irons, Vokey and Artisan wedges with his Odyssey putter. He may be ripe for a contract and a big check.
Speaking of a big check he cashes one for $1,980,000 for his Masters win. Second place isn’t first loser here either. Rickie Fowler earns $1,118,000 for his runner finish.
Rickie was his usual gentlemanly self afterwards, offering Reed hearty congratulations as he came off the eighteenth. Fowler is truly one of the guys that get it on the PGA Tour.
Jordan Spieth plays Augusta like he owns it. His Sunday charge propelled him to a third place finish. Jordan has one win, two seconds, a third and a tie for eleventh so far. That looks so amazing but checkout the GOAT’s early Masters record. In Jack Nicklaus’ first five Masters as a professional he went T15, Win, T2, Win, Win. And then from 1970-79 he never finished outside of the top eight while winning it twice. So I guess Jordan has a ways to go yet.
There was a bit of gamesmanship between Reed and Rory McIlroy on Saturday night with each of them trying to paint the other as the player with all the pressure on them. Reed looking to win his first major and McIlroy trying for the career grand slam. Rory blinked first as he played poorly. But Patrick’s game wasn’t without his issues either. Let’s just say that Reed’s game held up better than Rory’s and with that came the green jacket.
John Rahm showed us that he is indeed a world class player but may still need some more major championship experience. But I love how vocal he is, moaning and vocalizing his displeasure after his wayward shots. That, I can relate to.
Patrick Reed in a pink Nike shirt on Sunday. So surprising to see him without his traditional red shirt, black pants that he has been wearing for years. But Nike, his clothing contractor had mandated all week that their players would all be wearing similar shades each day. Sunday’s color was pink and most of them wore it. However, Tiger Woods must have been exempt from that one as he wore his normal Sunday red. Tony Finau was another Nike staffer that wasn’t pretty in pink. He opted for white, maybe Nike gave him a pass for his dislocated ankle.
Speaking of Finau, he goes down as the feel good story of the week (right after Nicklaus’ grandson’s hole in one). This guy dislocates his ankle while celebrating an ace in the Par 3 Tournament and goes from nearly being a punchline to a T10 finish with rounds of 68-74-73-66 with six straight birds on Sunday. His first Masters was memorable on so many levels.
Tiger Woods was many a fan’s pick to compete here but with so little major championship golf lately he was bound to have some issues. The good news is that he appears totally healthy, played all four rounds, showed life in all aspects of his game and smiled more this week than in all his Masters combined. He actually likes being out there again and that’s important.
Phil Mickelson had high hopes for another green jacket but was out of sorts all week. Driver, irons, putter and his trusty wedge was anything but. His 67 on Sunday was way too little too late after rounds of 70-79-74. The plan now moves to the career grand slam quest at Shinnecock.
Maybe it’s the wait we have to endure from the PGA to The Masters. Or maybe it’s Augusta National. Or maybe it’s the anticipation of watching history or maybe it’s the tradition and the green jackets and azaleas and pine straw and Rae’s Creek and Hogan Bridge and Magnolia Lane…yes, yes, yes. It’s all that. The Masters is a golfer’s dream, both the players and the fans. And once again it didn’t disappoint us.
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