LIV Golf star Patrick Reed didn’t mince his words as he berated his own showing at the Masters, despite clocking a one-under-par 71 in his first round at Augusta.
Even with a performance that positioned him competitively on the leaderboard, Reed harshly picked apart his game — especially his putting.
“P— poor,” he exclaimed to journalists when breaking down his day, having made two bogeys and three birdies on an up-and-down day.
He expressed his surprise at the lack of pace on the greens: “Pretty simple. Hit it fine, missed it in the wrong spots, and putted like a blind man. I expected the greens, just from previous years when they kind of have that type of look. I just kept leaving putts short. I thought they’d be faster. Just kept leaving them a little short.”
“When I finally got the ball to the hole, I didn’t have the right read. Hit the ball fine and putted horribly.” Despite being reminded by a reporter of his under-par score, an unimpressed Reed said: “I don’t care. It’s not good enough.
“I just couldn’t make a putt at all. That’s the biggest problem. You have to make putts out here. At least I feel like the ball was starting straight. Just couldn’t get the ball to the hole. You want to break it. You want to break the putter. That’s what you want to do.”
Despite his frustations, he remains in the hunt for the time being at Augusta for the green jacket. Speaking before the first major of the year, he expressed a strong sense of self-assuredness.
“The confidence levels are really high,” he said to Mirror US. “I feel really close. It is a little different from when I won there. I had one basic shot, which was a draw, and then a helicopter when I desperately needed to hit a fade. Now, I feel I have a lot more in my arsenal.
“I can hit it both ways, certain things I can do now that I was not as comfortable with then. I feel better. The short game is just as sharp, but with the ball striking, I’m able to do more with it.
“Hopefully, that is a good sign, and hopefully, I can give myself a chance on Sunday, and who knows, maybe I can put on that jacket.”
