Patrick Reed collected his second win of the year and third career PGA Tour victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championship this past weekend on the newly renovated Trump Doral.
Reed first gained prominence in 2012, when as a rookie and playing without any status, he Monday qualified for six events on the PGA Tour. He earned full exemption last year and won the Wyndham Championship in a playoff over the eventual rookie-of-the-year, Jordan Spieth.
Reed won the Humana Challenge in January and became one of only a handful of players with two wins on the PGA Tour under the age of 25.
He is now joining an even more elite group of current players with three wins under the age of 25 that includes only Rory McIlroy and himself.
Even though Reed has three victories, he has yet to play in a major championship. All that will change in one month at Augusta, where he won two NCAA Division I Championships, while a student at Augusta State.
Reed expects to win and in his post-round interview explained,
“I’ve worked so hard. I’ve won a lot in my junior career, did great things in my amateur career, was 6-0 in match play at NCAA’s, won NCAA’s two years in a row, got third individually one year and now I have three wins out here on the PGA Tour.”
He went on to add,
“I just don’t see a lot of guys that, you know, have done that, besides for Tiger Woods, of course, and all the other legends of the game. I believe in myself, especially how hard I have worked. I am one of the Top 5 players in the world and to come out on top in a field like this, I feel like I have proven myself.”
Reed has certainly proven himself on the PGA Tour and wore the red shirt on Sunday to demonstrate the point.
He moves to No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings and No. 20 in the Official World Golf Rankings. He is No. 4 on the Ryder Cup points list and with his confident attitude and three wins has solidified his place on the Tom Watson’s team this fall.
Reed is not the most consistent golfer on tour, but he is a winner. In 26 starts in 2013, he missed 10 cuts and had five top-10 finishes. He has missed only one cut this season, but his two wins are the only top-10 finishes he has posted in 10 starts.
He beat the best 69 players in the world this weekend on a very difficult golf course.
The WGC-Cadillac has been a very good predictor of future success in the past and I am guessing it will prove to be so again.
(Quotes taken from Sunday post-round interview on NBC.)