Patrick Reed is within reach of his second Masters title — and so much more

AUGUSTA, Ga. — On Sunday at Augusta National, Patrick Reed, your 2018 Masters champion and the artist previously known as Captain America, will be playing in the penultimate pairing with course-record dreams. Six under for three rounds, plus a 10-under finale? Yeah, sure — that can win.

That’s beyond unlikely.

But here’s what the current Hong Kong Open champion and member of the 4Aces team is actually playing for on Sunday: a chance to play in next month’s PGA Championship. Are the chances remote? Yes, but they exist. And then the U.S. Open in June. And the British Open in July. Followed by …

(your inner drum roll please)

… the triumphant return of Captain America and the Ryder Cup matches at Bethpage Black on Long Island in September.

Is that not what the people want? 

Regardless, it has to be what he wants. 

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Here’s his Aces profile right off a LIV website: “Reed’s unsmiling, ultra-focused on-course persona has led to him being one of the most misunderstood players in the modern game.”

Misunderstood or not, he has a peculiar standing at Augusta. The past champions at Augusta National are held with obvious reverence by the on-course spectators. You hear it when the players approach the 12th tee. When they walk to the 16th green. When they hole out on 18. One could say, generously, that Reed’s reception was polite and not much more. A couple of hoots as his impressive Saturday round ended with a birdie for 69. Reed’s a Texan by birth and he has lived the Lone Star State, where hooting is a way of life. He does not enjoy the status of other players with a single Masters title: a Fred Couples, a Jordan Spieth, a Jon Rahm. To borrow a favorite phrase of Reed’s favorite golfer, it is what it is.

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Reed was born in the summer of 1990. He attended Augusta University and his parents lived in Augusta when he won here in 2018, although he was estranged from them at the time. He’s had rules incidents that have played out on TV for the whole world to see. Some of his Ryder Cup gesturing could be described as way, way over-the-top. For whatever reason, Tiger Woods always seemed to like him. The quality of Reed’s golf certainly was part of it, and Reed’s me-against-the-world mentality added to it, too. When Woods was the playing captain of the 2019 Presidents Cup team, Reed was one of his captain’s picks.

Earlier in 2019, Reed, with his new green coat, bought dinner for Woods and every other living former Masters winner at the Tuesday-night Champions Dinner. This year, Reed was Scottie Scheffler’s guest. “It was different,” Reed said, commenting on Woods’s absence from the dinner this year. “You always want all the champions there. He’s a huge part of that Champions Dinner and he’s a huge part of golf.”

As a kid, Reed caught Tiger Woods at the height of Tiger’s immense powers. He was 6 when Woods won the 1997 Masters, and he was 23 when he played in his first Masters in 2014. He used to wear red shirts and black pants on Sunday, just like his hero. 

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It was (to some) a shock to see Reed jump from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf, given his allegiance to Woods, and Tiger’s loyalty to Reed. Woods’s allegiances, after all, have been to the tour on which he has won 82 times. Maybe Reed is misunderstood. Maybe that attachment to Woods is more than we might think. Reed said early Saturday night that he will likely wear black pants and a black shirt on Sunday at Augusta, with his LIV and 4Aces logos on display for all to see.

Reed, who is making his 12th Masters start, plays this course incredibly well. After his 2018 win, he’s had three top-10 finishes, and a tie for 12th last year. Reed was asked if he feels like he’s under the radar here, at this 89th Masters, despite being a past champ.

“I would say a little bit,” Reed said. Through three rounds, he’s six shots behind the leader Rory McIlroy, who is 12 under. But only two other players are ahead of Reed, Bryson DeChambeau and Corey Conners. “It’s kind of one of those things, with Rory playing the way he’s playing. I don’t mind flying under the radar and having a chance.”

He’s 34 and is No. 116 on the Official World Golf Ranking, the number deflated by the fact that his LIV play cannot improve his placement on the list. He probably has a better chance of making the U.S. Ryder Cup team than winning this Masters. That’s not really the point. The point is that Patrick Reed, whether you root for him or not, did not go LIV and disappear. Going into Sunday at the year’s first major, there are three players ahead of him, three major championships after this one, one Ryder Cup. You’re not done with him and he’s not done with us, or with golf at its best.

Michael Bamberger welcomes your comments at Michael.Bamberger@Golf.com.