AUGUSTA, Ga. — As under the radar as Patrick Reed has been for months, he entered the tournament lurking as a popular pick as the Masters winner.
Reed is a dangerous force at Augusta National, where he won a green jacket in 2018, finished third last year, tied for fourth in 2023, tied for eighth in 2021 and tied for 10th in 2020.
On Thursday, Reed did nothing to dispel his Masters prowess with an opening round of 3-under-par 69.
He stands two shots out of the lead held by Rory McIlroy and Sam Burns, who are both 5-under.
Reed was 5-under through his first nine holes and looked like he was going to take off, but he gave one back on Nos. 10 and 15.
“I felt like I played a lot better than the score,’’ Reed said. “I hit the ball pretty solid, gave myself a lot of good looks, and made a couple of putts.’’
Asked “at what point in the calendar’’ he thinks about the Masters, Reed said, “I think about it all the time.’’
He tries not to think too far ahead, though.
“This is one of those places that the more you think about it, the more you think ahead, the more it bites you,’’ Reed said. “When I won in ’18, it was the first year I actually fully bought into just taking it day by day and shot by shot.
“That’s what my recipe is, because when you get to the first major, you’re always going to put too much pressure on yourself, you’re always going to grind a little harder.
“Golf is one of those games if you start trying to force things, you actually get worse. Other sports, the harder you push, the harder you go, usually it works out. In our sport, the harder you push and the harder you try to make something happen, that’s usually when it kind of goes the wrong direction.’’
Reed, who left LIV Golf and is in the process of making his way back to the PGA Tour, is serving what is essentially a year suspension and playing overseas.
“I’m just going by the rules,’’ he said. “I’m doing my time from what they said on Player Handbook, and I’m excited to come back playing on the PGA Tour. I can’t wait really to get back and finish my career on the PGA Tour where I started.’’
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
