Patrick Reed is one of the best at putting on the blinders and shooting the number he needs to qualify for a tournament, to win a major or to knock off an opponent in match play in a hostile environment during international competition.
On the eve of the Mexico Open at Vidanta, Reed gave some insight into how he’s dealt with some of his most pressure-packed moments of his career. His comments were triggered by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler observing last week that playing in Q-School was more difficult than the final round of the Masters. Reed, who had no status when he first turned pro and became the king of the Mondays before winning the Masters in 2018 for his first and only major (so far), said he could relate.
“It was weird, when I was at Augusta, that Sunday when I woke up there was just – I felt so calm. It was almost weird feeling how calm I felt. I felt normal, felt just kind of at peace,” he explained. “Once I walked onto the first tee, that’s when it hit me. The nerves hit me throughout the first hole. Once I got done with the first hole and I hit the fairway on 2, at that point on, I felt normal, I felt ready. It was weird. I mean, it was almost as if I had that feeling inside of, hey, it’s your time, go ahead and just play your normal game and it will happen.
