Former Jaguar golfer Reed wins 2018 Masters, gets first major championship

By Leeroy Francis | Staff WriterFormer Jaguar Patrick Reed captured the 2018 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on Sunday, April 8.Reed, 27, shot a 71 in the final round to post a 15-under-par total to win his first career major. To begin the day, he started with a three-stroke lead over four-time major champion Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and held the lead throughout the final 18 holes, holding off a charging Jordan Spieth and crowd favorite Rickie Fowler.In the final grouping on Sunday, Reed was in control of his game, as he had been all week, although he did not quite have as impressive a round as he had had in each of the first three days. Still, Reed showed his mettle with an accurate driver, precession iron shots, lights-out putting and a competitiveness that reminded many fans of Tiger Woods—who finished tied 32^nd after missing three of the last four Masters due to a bad back that required several surgeries.“I’m just happy to be up here and be able to say I’ve gotten over that hump of not winning at all last year, coming into a year that one of my biggest goals was to win a major and compete in golf tournaments,” Reed said afterwards in the press conference. “To be able to get them both at once, to end the drought and win a major, it helps me mentally, and also helps my résumé, and hopefully I can just take this momentum going forward and play some really solid golf.”On the par-72, 7,445-yard course at Augusta National, Reed shot a 3-under-par 69 in Thursday’s opening round and played even better on day two. On Friday, Reed shot a 6-under-par 66, including nine birdies on his round. Three times he had three birdies in a row on holes (1-3, 7-9 and 13-15) to put him at 9-under-par at the top of the Masters leaderboard with a two-shot lead over Australian Marc entering Saturday’s third round.On day three, Reed did not let up and shot a 5-under-par 67. His round included two crucial eagles on the two back-side par-5 holes, the 13^th and 15^th. He also had four birdies to increase his lead to three shots over McIlroy, who was chasing a career grand slam.In the final round, Reed had four birdies and three bogeys. That was good enough to edge Fowler, who birdied the last hole just ahead of Reed. That meant that Reed had to par the 18^th, which he did on a bit of a tester from about six feet after his birdie putt sailed by the hole.Trailing behind Reed by nine shots starting the final round, Spieth, the 2015 Masters champion, birdied five of his first nine holes Sunday for a front-nine 31. He then birdied four of his first seven holes on his back nine, including a 33-foot birdie on the par-3 16^th hole. For the moment, that put Spieth in a tie with Reed at 14-under. It was exactly the kind of Sunday back-nine drama that has made the Masters famous.However, Spieth’s costly bogey on the finishing hole at Augusta National and Reed’s birdie on the par-4 14^th hole gave Reed the cushion he needed to play even par golf coming in to eventually win by one over Fowler and two over Spieth. Spieth was attempting to win his second green jacket in four years by trying to break the Masters Tournament record of the largest final-round comeback, which is eight strokes.Spieth, who had played brilliantly on Thursday, has placed no worse than 11^th in his four Masters. That includes two runner-up finishes and his win in 2015.Also fighting Reed for the coveted green jacket on Sunday was Fowler, who played steady golf all week. Wearing his signature orange on Sunday, Fowler, the former Oklahoma State golfer, put pressure on by shooting a final round 65. Fowler nearly forced a playoff with his Ryder Cup teammate, but could not quite equal Reed’s outstanding week at Augusta National.Reed, who after playing one year of college golf at the University of Georgia, transferred to then Augusta State University. He was awarded all-America honors while helping lead the Jaguars to back-to-back NCAA Division I golf titles in 2010 and 2011. Reed went undefeated in the match play portion in both years’ national championship runs. He also has a stellar record in Ryder Cup play.“Definitely growing up everyone always dreams about winning at Augusta, winning the Masters,” Reed said. “Every time you think about it as a kid growing up its always this putt is to win a Green Jacket, this putt is to win the Masters I think it’s because of the history and everything that’s gone on here at Augusta National, and how special it is for all the golfers and golf in general around the world.”Reed, who moved to No. 12 in the world golf rankings, won $1.98 million for his sixth career PGA Tour victory. His first was in Greensboro, N.C., in 2013, when he edged Spieth. Last August, he finished tied second at the PGA.The total purse for the 2018 Masters was $11 million.Contact Leeroy Francis at lfrancis@augusta.edu