Patrick Reed Wins 2015 Hyundai Tournament Of Champions

Aug 31, 2014; Norton, MA, USA; Patrick Reed watches his tee shot on the 3rd hole during the third round of the Deutsche Bank Championship golf tournament at TPC of Boston. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Patrick Reed birdies the 18th hole twice in less than twenty minutes during the final round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on Monday afternoon, and picked up his fourth career win. It wasn’t Reeds putter that got him into the playoff with 54-hole co-leader, Jimmie Walker at the Kapalua Resort, Plantation Course, it was the gift eagle at the 16th hole.

Patrick Reed

I’m sure that when the 24 year-old Patrick Reed was standing on the 16th tee, he even remotely thought he had a chance to win the first event of the year. What the Golf God giveth, he can quickly taketh away. The eagle two he giveth at 16 turned into another missed short bogey at 17, and dashed any hopes of victory in the rare Monday finish on the PGA Tour.

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You could see the disgust, as Reed jerked his glove off after his approach shot to the par five 18th hole. He knew that he needed to hit it close, and give himself a good look at another eagle putt if he was going to stand any chance.

Dressed in his Tiger Woods look-a-like Red and Black Sunday uniform, the youngster missed to the left, but stroked the 3 foot putt for his first birdie on 18. All he could do now was wait.

Jimmy Walker

Beginning his day in a tie with playing partner, Hideki Matsuyama, Jimmy Walker built a nice three-stroke cushion over the young Japanese player, and the field after a birdie at the 10th hole. The three-time winner in 2014 put it on cruise control.

Aug 21, 2014; Paramus, NJ, USA; Jimmy Walker hits his approach shot on the 12th hole during the first round of The Barclays golf tournament at Ridgewood Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The conditions were nice, there was little wind, and all he needed to do was stay out of trouble, and the tournament was his. But like Chris Berman always says, “that’s why they play the game”

You could sense a change in Jimmy Walker’s demeanor, as he started to play a little more conservative, and it bite him at the 14th hole.

After a lengthy discussion with his caddie on the short par four, he decided to hit an iron, and not go for the green. The shot, and his swing were very defensive, and the ball ended up in the fairway bunker on the right side.

Visibly shaken, Walker picked the bunker shot a little too thin. and ended up just over the green. He made a decent shot back to the green, but missed the putt for his only bogey of the day, and only the second of the entire tournament. But it was the shot that would cost him the championship.

Making par at the par five 18th hole on the Plantation Course is like making a bogey, and that is what Jimmy Walker did on Monday afternoon. Patrick Reed’s birdie at 18 had pulled him one stroke clear of the pack at 20 under par, and Walker needed birdie to win. Par would open the door for Reed, and force a playoff.

"“As soon as we saw that opening,” said caddie and brother-in-law Kessler Karain, “I told him, ‘Hey man, you’ve got the keys to the car now. Let’s go take it for a ride.’ ”"

The Playoff

Patrick Reed won the coin toss as the playoff started on the 18th hole, and hit first. He opened the door slightly with a drive down the right side where. at over 300 yards out, had no chance of getting to the generous green in two.

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Walker bombed another drive down the middle, and got a favorable run-out that gave him a chance to get home in two.

Reed did the only thing he could, and bang a three wood as far as he could, and landed 40 yards short. Walker was stuck in the defensive mode, and it showed, as his second shot went far right into the stands.

With both players looking at a chip and a putt, Patrick Reed made his, and Jimmy Walker didn’t. The rest is history. Patrick Reed wins his fourth PGA Tour event, and Walker goes to Honolulu to defend his 2014 Sony Open title.

Wrap Up

Patrick Reed did not have his A Game on Maui this week, and his putter did him no favors. But what he did do, was not make any mistakes down the stretch, and let the game come back to him. It did, and he won.

Chris Kirk, and Jason Day matched the course record on Monday, and fired matching 11 under par, 62’s. Kirk’s score would get him to 13 under par, and a tie for 14th place, but Jason Day’s would get him to 20 under par, and give him the early clubhouse lead.

After what transpired at the 18th hole, the popular Aussie only missed the playoff by one stroke, and finished in a tie for third place.

With his win at the Hyundai TOC on Monday, Patrick Reed takes one more step in proving that if he is not the fifth best player in the world, he may well be on his way. The victory, the fourth of his career, come at age 25, and he joins a small group of players who have pulled off this feat.

Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia are the only three other players in history to have done it. Now Reed is now part of that group.

"“I think it’s just because I’m stubborn. I don’t really care,” he said about his early success. “I go out there and just kind of focus on my golf game, and I don’t really care what anyone else is doing or however anyone else hits the shot. I just know how I can do it, and you know, what works for me and what makes me allows it to be more consistent under pressure.”"

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