Patrick Reed Sends 7-Word-Wish After Missing the Sight of His Best Shot U.S. Open

Back in 2018, Patrick Reed clinched the Green Jacket from Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth to win his one and only major. He was also quite consistent on the PGA Tour, winning titles as often as nearly 1 a year. Even in the Saudi-based promotion, Reed has managed to stay quite consistent, finishing in the top 20 every season. Despite that, the 34-year-old hasn’t received much love from the fans. Even over the most minuscule subjects, Reed has often faced criticism from the netizens. Back when one of the LIV Golf representatives shared a picture of the Texan practicing while wearing shorts, nobody batted an eye. He has also been heckled on the course, only for his caddie to come to his rescue during the Presidents Cup in 2019. And now, Reed expressed how he prefers focusing on his game rather than expecting a reaction from the fans.

Speaking about his performance, the 9-time champion said, “Bogeying hole 2, bogeying hole 5, bogeying 9 from the middle of the fairway, and then obviously having a three-point there on 16 and bogeying 14 after being 90 yards from the green and ending up in a fairway bunker up against a lip, those are just careless mistakes. Those are mistakes you can’t make, and unfortunately, I made them. But then, good thing I made 2 on that hole because that wiped three of them off. That really just wiped off the last hole.”

Despite a bogey on the second hole, his unbelievable albatross on the 4th helped him escape, adding 3 more strokes to his total. After he brought the 3-under on the fourth hole into the conversation, a reporter asked him, “Can you appreciate that you’re only the fourth one to do that in U.S. Open history?” The 2018 Masters champion joined an elite list of golfers like T.C. Chen (1985), Shaun Micheel (2010), and Nick Watney (2012) as the only 4 players in history to score an albatross in the U.S. Open. And Reed was pretty pumped about that.

Responding to the question, he said, “Oh, it’s awesome. That’s great. But I mean, it’s kind of one of those things that after you finish with a triple, that’s really the last thing you’re really thinking about.” Despite being happy about achieving the amazing feat, he was still realistic about what Oakmont has to offer. Reed also added, “Anytime you’re out of position, the golf course just gets really challenging,” suggesting that the course in Pennsylvania can punish anyone who tries to play a little risky to gain an advantage. Rory McIlroy was a great example of the same as he experienced a series of over-par scores despite getting an outstanding start on Thursday.

Coming back to the conversation with Patrick Reed, the journalists tried to dig deep into his mental state after the first round. They asked, “Does that make it better, like you’re getting the crowd reaction as opposed to actually seeing the shot, or would you rather it be the other way around?” Considering his popularity with the fans, or the lack thereof, Reed still had to rely on the attendees to confirm if his ball had sunk for Albatross.

The 34-year-old confessed what he would have rather preferred: “I’d love to see it go in. It’s always fun watching the ball disappear. But hey, as long as it disappears, that’s all that matters. I don’t care if you see it or not. As long as it goes in the hole, that’s all I really care about.” Looks like the years of ignorance have finally taught Patrick Reed a lesson. And he doesn’t seem to care about whether the fans react to his stroke, as his primary goal is to deliver great performances and try to win another event.

PATRICK REED ALBATROSS AT THE U.S. OPEN

(via @usopengolf)pic.twitter.com/GFFgAD8od7

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 12, 2025

It’s worth noting that he did mention that sinking the ball is more important than anything, as that is what gets the results. But does his performance at Oakmont Country Club justify that statement?

Patrick Reed’s first 18 holes in the 2025 U.S. Open

18 holes in and Patrick Reed has already experienced a roller coaster of a ride. He started the round with a second-hole bogey. The LIV golfer got that outstanding albatross on the 4th and a couple of birdies throughout the day. But it was his bag of errors that dropped him down the leaderboard. Apart from the one on the 2nd hole, Reed had 4 more bogeys and a triple bogey to go 8-over. If it wasn’t for his stroke of luck on the 4th hole and the birdies, he would have finished the round at T123.

Despite that, the overall stats of the Texans were still quite impressive. He was ranked 9th in putting and was better than the average field in driving range. However, Reed’s accuracy off the tee can’t be commended as he only hit 5 of the 14 fairways throughout the day. That’s a 36% success rate, which is worse than McIlroy, who sits below him on the leaderboard with 1 additional stroke. It’s fair to say that Patrick Reed will really need to pump up his game if he wishes to play the weekend rounds at Oakmont Country Club.

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