The Return of Reed: Patrick Reed Is Back, Like It or Not

After a tough stretch, it seems like Patrick Reed might be hitting his stride once again.

The young American finished T-7 in this week’s Charles Schwab Challenge, 4 strokes behind eventual winner Sam Burns.

This is one of Reed’s strongest performances so far this season and his best since finishing T-3 way back in December’s Hero World Challenge.

This season has been very tough overall for Patrick Reed, as he is barely ranked in the top 75 in the FedEx Cup Standings, mostly due to his lack of top 10 (1) and top-25 (2) finishes.

While this week will certainly help him climb the rankings, Reed will need to build off this momentum in order to regain his old form.

Patrick Reed will hope his finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge is only the beginning of better things to come.

Reed, the current World No. 38, was once regarded as a dominant and fiery competitor, with 2018 being his strongest season.

That year, the American won his first major tournament at the Masters, narrowly defeating fellow American Rickie Fowler. To cap off a fantastic season, Reed qualified and represented his country at the Ryder Cup in Paris, France.

Team USA eventually lost to Team Europe 17 ½ to 10 ½ and following the tournament, Patrick Reed publicly criticized captain Jim Furyk about his groupings. This became a pattern of Reed being at the center of controversy and he would gain a rather negative reputation on Tour.

Nevertheless, Reed has since only won 3 tournaments since that dominant 2018 season, and he has won none this year thus far. After this week’s strong outing, paired with his respectable T-34 finish at the PGA Championship, it seems like Reed may be building some momentum as the season progresses.

"“I feel like the game is trending, is definitely where it needs to be, just need to start seeing these numbers that kind of add up to how I’m playing and how the score is supposed to be,” Reed said recently."

We know that the American has always been one of the strongest putters on Tour (44th in strokes gained putting), but if he continues to round out his game, well, we’ve seen how he can play when at his best.

We also know that he has been making some changes to his golf swing recently, along with switching out his usual PXG Driver, so maybe these changes will work? Or maybe not, but it’s certainly worth a shot for the 31-year-old.

Patrick Reed is set to compete next week at the Memorial Tournament held at Muirfield Village Golf Club, an event where he finished T-5 just last year. Patrick Cantlay would go on to win at Jack’s place.

Since we know that he enjoys this event, we could see Reed build upon his recent play, so he may be worth a look if you’re looking for a dark horse selection. No matter your opinion of him, it’s clear that his game may be changing for the better.