The beginning of this week was a noisy one for Patrick Reed, but not by his own doing. He was called out by Brooks Koepka in a radio interview, then called out again by former CBS analyst Peter Kostis on a podcast, both times in regards to his alleged cheating incident at the Hero World Challenge.
Reed responded how he always does, by going out and playing good golf. He opened with rounds of 69 and 63 at the WGC–Mexico, then remained in contention with a third-round 67. Today, with just four holes remaining, he trailed by a few shots and proceeded to make three straight birdies to reach 19-under. That afforded him with a two-shot lead on the final hole, and he was able to bogey his way to a one-shot win over Bryson DeChambeau.
Electric.@PReedGolf birdies the 17th and takes a 2-shot lead to the final hole at @WGCMexico.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/EGYR6LTtQi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 23, 2020
“It’s very rewarding,” said Reed, whose only other WGC win came in this event in 2014, though it came at Doral. “My team and I have worked so hard through the end of last year and also the beginning of this year. We kept on feeling like we were playing some good golf, just weren’t quite able to get over that hump.
“To come back and win my second World Golf Championship – especially with how I had to finish on basically 15 onwards. The last hole was ugly, but it was what I needed to get the job done.”
Reed often gets the job done in similar situations, having now won by one stroke in seven of his eight PGA Tour wins. The only triumph that didn’t come by one stroke was a two-shot win over Ryan Palmer at the 2014 Humana Challenge.
“Just putting yourself in these positions on Sunday is just unbelievable. It’s a great feeling, and I can’t wait to go home and celebrate it with the little ones and my wife and bring home a trophy.”
DeChambeau looked like he’d run away with the tournament when he reached 18-under at the par-4 14th, but a three-putt bogey at the par-3 17th wound up being the difference. Justin Thomas, who lead by himself after 54 holes, shot a two-over 73 to tie for sixth.
None of the Australians fared better than Cameron Smith in a tie for 22nd.
