Back in April, smack in the middle of quarantine, Brooks Koepka did an Instagram live Q&A with his coach Claude Harmon. The four-time Major champ was in rare form, but a quote that really stood out was one about Patrick Reed. Specifically, Patrick Reed’s short game.
“His short game is a joke. I don’t think people realise how good of a wedge player he is around the greens. I’ll never forget, we’re playing Charlotte a few years ago. It’s me, Tiger and him, and he had this shot where I thought there was no chance he could get it within 15 feet And he hits it to kick-in, literally. And I’m like, Oh my god. And Tiger even said to me, ‘I don’t understand?’ He’s that good.”
When you have both Koepka and Tiger Woods in absolute awe, you must be doing something right. This quote was the first thing that came to mind when seeing how Reed made the cut on the number on Friday afternoon at the Northern Trust. After missing his approach left of the green, Reed needed to hole a miraculous chip shot at the par-4 ninth at TPC Boston to make the weekend. He did just that, and a volunteer at the tournament was able to capture it on film:
Patrick Reed’s last shot today on hole 9 at TPC Boston! I was the one person with a camera to catch this shot. @GOLFonCBS @CBSSports @PReedGolf @wbz @PlayMassGolf @NBCSBoston @hestergolf @TigerWoods @USGA @jacknicklaus @PFrodigh24 @dfrodigh7 pic.twitter.com/lQV316kuhm
— Peter Frodigh (@PeterFrodigh) August 21, 2020
Incredible shot. Or, as Koepka says, “a joke.” The shot gave Reed an even-par 71 and got him to the weekend. Not that he needed it, as he entered the week at sixth in the FedEx Cup standings and is still projected ninth despite being at the bottom of the leaderboard. He will be in the BMW and is almost a lock for the Tour Championship. But Reed played to the final whistle anyway, which is not surprising in the least.
