ORLANDO – Patrick Reed continues to let his clubs do his talking. With a pair of 70s, Reed, the winner of the WGC Mexico Championship two weeks ago, is in contention for another title at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
“Anytime you can play this golf course and shoot two rounds under par, you’re happy,” Reed said.
He described Thursday’s playing conditions as “brutal,” and said Friday Bay Hill played a little easier as cooler temperatures in the 60s and a change in the wind direction made the course more manageable.
Reed, 29, started on the back nine and made an early bogey at the 11th before reeling off four birdies on his opening nine. The highlight was a 36-foot birdie putt at 15. On the second nine, Reed failed to get up and down from the greenside bunker at the par-3 second and hit his second shot into the water at the par-5 sixth, and made bogeys at both. He got a stroke back at No. 8 where he rammed in a 36-foot birdie to cap his round.
“This is a golf course that if you hit one poor golf shot you’re going to pay for it,” Reed said. “I was able to make some putts and I was able to kind of eliminate the big number.”
Reed has four top-10 finishes in his last six official Tour starts, as well as a third-place finish at the Hero World Challenge, where he was penalized two strokes for a rules infraction in a fairway bunker.
