Presidents Cup 2019: Patrick Reed not shying away from controversy

Patrick Reed knew he’d be the “bad guy” heading into the 2019 Presidents Cup. He’s not embracing the role, but he’s certainly not shying away from it, either.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Patrick Reed is heading into a charged-up Presidents Cup contest as “Public Enemy No. 1”, and instead of shying away from the fire, he’s using it as fuel for his own game and attitude.

Shocking, I know, but “Captain America” is carrying the red, white and blue shield into Royal Melbourne despite the fact that he’s basically the top heel anywhere he tees it up these days. And while he’s taking tons of flak (justifiably so) for the bunker fiasco at last week’s Hero World Challenge, he’s comfortable taking it in stride, at least publicly.

Australian superfan group “The Fanatics” are planning several Reed-specific chants, which will almost certainly make for a good time for all of us watching. And one fellow competitor, Australia’s Cam Smith, has commented directly on the situation, saying that while Reed himself has always been friendly, Smith doesn’t have “any sympathy for anyone that cheats.”

“If you make a mistake maybe once, you could maybe understand, but to give a bit of a bull—- response like the camera angle … that’s pretty up there (inexcusable),” Smith said.

This week, Smith has acknowledged that his comments appear to have strained his relationship with Reed, noting that there’s a bit of “tension” in the air. Patrick Reed has made it clear that he hears all of this, though, and he’ll be directing that all into his play.

“It goes from wanting to beat those guys to it now turning personal, so it’s going to be a fun week,” he said.

Reed has always been one to take things personally, fairly or unfairly, and more often than not, he seems to come out alright on the other side, at least professionally. Golf, especially at the highest levels, requires players to be more mentally strong than anything else, so how will that go in Australia?

To turn this obvious negative into a positive, particularly for American fans, I expect things to go quite well, actually. Reed plays the victim wonderfully, even when it’s something he’s brought on himself. But when it comes to shushing the crowds and getting momentum onto his side, there are few better at using slights as fuel than him. It doesn’t hurt that most of his teammates seem to be having fun with him and not pushing him away in the team environment, either.

The International team has quite a hill to climb if they’re to unseat the heavily favored Americans for just the second time in event history. Getting into the head of one of the best match players in the world would normally be a good approach – but it’s one that may backfire in epic fashion, too.