They were once America’s unbreakable, unshakable duo. Today, things have gone frosty between the two young stars — or have they? Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed have had quite a ride together. Here’s a timeline of their highs and lows.
2013 Wyndham Championship
In Round 3, Spieth and Reed play together in a PGA Tour event for the first time in their careers. Spieth shoots 70 to Reed’s 71. They don’t land in the same group for Sunday’s final round, but each finish 14 under to set up a head-to-head sudden death showdown for the title. Reed wins it on the second hole after driving it into the pines and hitting a brilliant escape shot under the limbs to seven feet. He drains the birdie putt to seal it. Spieth deems it “one of the best shots I’ve ever witnessed.” It’s Reed’s first career PGA Tour title.
2014 Masters
Augusta National groups the young phenoms, along with Rory McIlroy, for Thursday and Friday. Spieth shoots 71-70 and eventually pushes Bubba Watson in the final pairing on Sunday afternoon before fading into a tie for third. Reed (73-79) misses the cut. They play five more rounds together in ’14 with few fireworks. Spieth gets the better of Reed twice, Patrick clips Jordan twice, and they tie once.
2014 Ryder Cup
Very little went right for Tom Watson’s U.S. squad at Gleneagles. But he did make one move that clicked: pairing Spieth and Reed together for the foursomes and fourballs. They go 2-0-1 as a tandem, and Watson catches heat for not sending them out for all four team matches. Spieth and Reed are one the few bright spots during a dreary week for the U.S.
2015 U.S Open, Round 3
Spieth and Reed share the lead through 36 holes and meet in contention at a major for the first time, but this one isn’t close. Spieth (71) dusts Reed (76) on a breezy Saturday and one day later he hoists the trophy at Chambers Bay.
2015 Presidents Cup
U.S. captain Jay Haas pairs Reed and Spieth together for only one match, Saturday afternoon fourballs, and they drub Jason Day and Charl Schwartzel. It turns out to be the rare Presidents Cup where every point matters. The U.S. escapes South Korea with a one-point win.
2016 Tournament of Champions
Spieth and Reed play together for Rounds 1 and 2 in Kapalua, and Spieth bests Reed, the defending champ, by four shots over the two days before going on to win the event. Reed finishes runner-up.
2016 Ryder Cup
It’s party time at Hazeltine as the U.S. rolls to a cathartic win over Europe. Spieth and Reed are sent out first on Day 1 as captain Davis Love’s top tandem. Over two days they fist-pump and high-five their way to 2 ½ points together. Reed then burnishes his legend by topping McIlroy in an epic singles match. Could they one day become the most decorated U.S. Ryder Cup duo ever? This week, anything seems possible.
2017 Travelers Championship, Round 3
Spieth drills Reed by six shots and wins it the next day with a stunning hole-out from the sand in sudden death.
2017 Presidents Cup
Spieth and Reed earn 3 ½ points in four matches as the U.S. blitzes the Internationals. They are the foundation of a young American squad that suddenly seems poised to dominate the team events for years to come. What could possibly go wrong?
2018 Arnold Palmer Invitational, final round
They aren’t paired together – in fact, Spieth isn’t even in the field — but the seeds of discord may be planted at Bay Hill. On Sunday afternoon, Reed’s ball settles near a TV cable behind the 11 green, and he calls in an official to ask for a drop. The ref denies Reed free relief, causing Reed to snap, “I guess my name needs to be Jordan Spieth, guys.” (Spieth, as we all remember, won the previous year’s British Open in epic fashion, which included a long delay as he took unplayable lie penalty and dropped in the Birkdale’s driving range.) Reed’s comments are captured by a spectator, and they rip through social media.
https://twitter.com/tsoughers/status/976112320509366272
2018 WGC-Match Play
On the eve of their head-to-head matchup, Reed is asked about Spieth in a press conference. “I don’t know, my back still hurts from the last Ryder Cup,” Reed says with a grin. The room breaks up, but perhaps there’s something more behind Reed’s smirk. Neither player is sharp during their match, but Reed beats Spieth 2 and 1 to advance to the weekend and send Spieth, a No. 1 seed, home early.
2018 Ryder Cup
Where to begin? In a surprising move from captain Jim Furyk, Spieth and Reed never play together – Reed goes 0-2 alongside Tiger Woods, while Spieth teams with childhood buddy Justin Thomas and goes 3-1. In the end, the U.S. is trounced. As the team sits glumly along the dais (with Spieth and Reed at opposite ends) in the post-round press conference, a reporter asked why they didn’t play together. Reed shot Spieth a look, and Spieth jumped in to take the question.
“We were totally involved with every decision that was made. Jim allowed it to be a player-friendly environment, and we were involved and we thought that the teams that came out of our four-man squad, we had two potentially fantastic teams. We went out confidently and tried to play our best,” Spieth says. Furyk also quickly chimes in. Reed remains silent — but not for long.
Later that night, Reed speaks to the New York Times and dubs Furyk’s pairings “a buddy system” and doesn’t stop there. “I was looking at him like I was about to light the room up like Phil in ’14,” Reed said of the press conference exchange. And he didn’t stop there. “The issue’s obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me. I don’t have any issue with Jordan. When it comes right down to it, I don’t care if I like the person I’m paired with or if the person likes me as long as it works and it sets up the team for success. He and I know how to make each other better. We know how to get the job done.”
2019 Farmers Insurance Open, Round 3
Paired together for the first time since the Ryder Cup, they hug it out on the first tee. Nothing else to see here? Stay tuned.
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