Don’t Forget About Patrick Reed

By Billy Dowling | May 14, 2015

Let’s take a few steps back here for one second. First Rory McIlroy won two majors in the summer and reclaimed his title as the best player on the planet. Then Rickie Fowler was supposed to challenge McIlroy but failed to do so for the first part of 2015. So this left the door open for Jordan Spieth, who ran through it with his Masters victory and created golf’s new great rivalry. That lasted about a month until Fowler’s break through at THE PLAYERS. So we went from a dominant player, to a budding head-to-head rivalry, and now a “Big Three.” What about Patrick Reed?

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The 24-year old has more wins than both Spieth and Fowler, it’s just they’ve won golf’s biggest events and Reed has yet to seriously contend in them. After one round at the Wells Fargo, Reed is in great position at -6 one shot back of leader Robert Streb. It’s only one round in but a win here can continue the cat and mouse game that has been growing amongst golf’s youngest stars for months now.

Gone are the days where a player like Tiger Woods runs and hides from the field. The “Big Three” and guys like Reed show the depth and strength of the PGA Tour right now. Now the focus is on a collection of stars rather than just one guy dominating and Reed says this a is a good thing.

"“It seems like from top to bottom now in fields that more and more guys are having the ability, if they’re on that week … to win the golf tournament,” said Reed. “It’s great for the game of golf because it’s not the same guy every week that, ‘Oh, well, he’s going to win the event, so might as well hand him the trophy. Who is playing for second?”"

With so many guys out there gunning for a shot at McIlroy, Fowler, and Spieth, let’s not be too quick to discount Reed, who easily could be shooting for his third win of the year right now. Things weren’t easy from the get go today after an opening hole bogey, but he righted the ship with five birdies in his next seven holes on his way to an opening nine 32. With three birdies and a bogey on the back side he calmed down a little bit, but is still in great position after eighteen holes.

With most of the attention on Rory’s opening round 70, this is a perfect opportunity for Reed to take advantage and have a big week. If he were to walk away with the trophy on Sunday that means McIlroy, Spieth, Fowler, and Reed will have won four out the last six tournaments. Golf’s biggest rivalry just seems to be growing in numbers by the day, and McIlroy knows it.

"“It was very inspiring to see what Jordan did at Augusta, seeing how Rickie won last week, Patrick already won this year,” said McIlroy. “There’s a lot of good young guys coming through and playing well and it’s nice. I mean when you see those guys winning you feel like you need to step it up a little, too. Nice healthy rivalry.”"

Credit Golf Channel For The Quotes

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