Whether you love Patrick Reed or love to hate him, he has your attention.
A polarizing figure on the PGA Tour, Reed had a rollercoaster 2019.
From being a captain’s pick by Tiger Woods for the Presidents Cup to getting back in the winner’s circle at the FedEx Cup Playoff’s Northern Trust to his now infamous two-stroke penalty at the Hero World Challenge, we chronicle Patrick Reed’s busy 2019.
Settles things with Spieth
Jan. 26: Ahead of the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed seemed to resolve any conflict that remained from the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris. The two had a well-documented falling out at the Ryder Cup where they were split up by captain Jim Furyk before Europe’s 17½ – 10½ rout of the Americans at Le Golf National. Paired together for the third round of the Farmers Open in January, Speith and Reed embraced publicly on the first tee, putting the bad blood narrative to rest.
Earns Euro Tour honorary life membership
Feb. 1: Reed became just fourth American to earn honorary life membership with the European Tour. Reed, who earned in recognition of his 2018 Masters win, is the 55th player to receive the honor. The other three Americans to receive the same honor are Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.
Announces Masters champions dinner
April 9: Reed, the defending Masters champion, chose a Texas-themed menu for the Masters Champions Dinner in April at Augusta National Golf Club. The menu (pictured above) for the former gree jacket winners in attendance consisted of salads, macaroni and cheese, creamed spinach, corn crème brulee, steamed broccoli and a main course of prime bone-in cowboy ribeye.
Finishes T-36 at Masters
April 14: As the reigning champion of the Masters Tournament, Patrick Reed finished the 2019 Masters T-36, but despite being unable to defend his title, he stuck with tradition and stuck around for green jacket ceremony honoring 2019 champion Tiger Woods.
Snaps wedge at U.S. Open
June 14: During the second round of the U.S. Open, the par-5 18th proved too much when Patrick Reed snapped his wedge over his knee. Reed’s tee shot traveled 280 yards, his second went into the fairway bunker on the left, his third shot went over the green and his fourth shot traveled back across the green and into the rough. His fifth shot barely made any progress and still sat in the rough, which incited Reed to take out his frustration on his wedge. Golf Channel reported Reed was “delightfully unapologetic about the club snap.”
Returns to site of Ryder Cup heroics
July 2: Patrick Reed returned to Minnesota for the first time since the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Chaska, Minnesota for the inaugural 3M Open in July. After his explosive personality was on display in 2016 at Hazeltine, Reed headlined the July event at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine, Minnesota along with Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson. When speaking of his decision to return to Minnesota for the first time in three years, Reed referenced the 2016 Ryder Cup experience as a “a special week” and said he wanted to “come to see the awesome fans again.”
Wins The Northern Trust
Aug. 11: Patrick Reed was back in the winner’s circle in August when he won The Northern Trust at Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey. The victory, Reed’s first since his Masters win in April 2018, was secured after a final-round 69 which defeated Abraham Ancer by one shot.
Flaunts Masters-themed Porsche
Sept. 3: His Masters win was over one year ago, but that didn’t stop Reed from flaunting his Masters-themed Porsche. The Forecaddie reported Reed considered painting the car Masters green, but decided it would look right and settled on a British Racing Green. The Man Out Front also wrote Reed wanted to put a removable Masters logo on the sills of the car doors and approached Augusta National about the idea, but lawyers eventually decided to protect the logo.
Selected for Presidents Cup
Nov. 7: Tiger Woods picked himself, Tony Finau, Gary Woodland and Patrick Reed for Presidents Cup in November. At the time Reed was selected to play in his third Presidents Cup, he was ranked No. 15 in the world. Woods’ decision to select Reed was an interesting one after Reed publicly feuded with captain Jim Furyk and teammate Jordan Spieth following the 2016 Ryder Cup.
Penalized in the Bahamas
Dec. 6: Ahead of the Presidents Cup, Patrick Reed was slapped with a two-stroke penalty at the Hero World Challenge at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. Reed, who introduced custom irons to his bag during the Hero World Challenge, took two practice swings in a waste bunker on the 11th hole which both moved sand from behind his ball. Under Rule 8-1a, players are not allowed to remove or press down on sand or loose soil to improve their lie. Reed, who shot a 74 in the third round, ended up finishing the event in third place, two shots behind winner Henrik Stenson.
Presidents Cup drama begins
Dec. 10: Ahead of the Presidents Cup, Reed was questioned by media regarding his penalty at the Hero World Challenge. He expected fans to mock him as the Presidents Cup began as the rule violation was fresh, but Reed refused to call what he did “cheating” because if he was cheating, the circumstances would be different. “If you do something unintentionally that breaks the rules, it’s not considered cheating and at the end of the day that’s what it is. If you’re intentionally trying to do something, that would be considered cheating, but I wasn’t intentionally trying to improve a lie or anything like that, because if it was, it would have been a really good lie and I would have hit it really close.”
Caddie has altercation with fan
Dec. 13: There was plenty heckling during the first two rounds of play at the Presidents Cup and Reed took most of it in stride, but on Saturday, Reed’s caddie/brother-in-law Kessler Karain had an altercation with a spectator after Reed’s morning fourballs match and was ruled out for Sunday’s singles match. Reed was not made available to reporters, but released a brief statement: “I respect the Tour’s decision. We are all focused on winning the Presidents Cup tomorrow.”
Heckling incites clutch reaction
Dec. 14: One day after Reed’s caddie was ousted from competition, Reed endured more heckling, but this time, it incited a reaction. A good one. Along with his caddie for the day, coach Kevin Kirk, Reed endured several heckles from fans at Royal Melbourne, but it only fueled his fire. One heckler who shouted, “Patrick, looks like that shovel was too much for your caddie,” was given a warning by security and the stink-eye from Red when he made a birdie putt to go 2 up on the second green during his Sunday singles match with C.T. Pan. Reed finished his match against Pan 4-and-2, giving the Americans their 11th point en route to a 16-14 victory for Team USA.
What’s next?
Like sand through an hourglass, questions of Reed’s adventure in a waste bunker in the Bahamas and his actions in Australia at the Presidents Cup will be unrelenting.
Week after week after week, Reed will be confronted.
And he plays a lot of weeks, starting with a scheduled start in Hawaii the first week of January, as Reed will be among the 34 tournament winners from last season in the field at the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Then the Champions Dinner with Masters green jacket winners young and old is on the docket. A U.S. Open in New York (the media will love that). A title defense in New York to kick off the FedEx Cup playoffs won’t be quiet. And all the time Captain America be playing for a spot in the USA team in the Ryder Cup.
Has the bridge to a captain’s pick, should he need one, been burned?
As much as Reed would like to put this behind him, it’s going to be a long upcoming year.
Steve DiMeglio wrote the “What’s next” portion of this story.
