After being caught up in a storm of controversy, Patrick Reed battled to a five-shot victory at the Farmers Insurance Open this past Sunday.
Reed again made headlines for the wrong reasons when he replaced his ball for embedded relief during the third round on Saturday, although replay clearly showed his ball bounced before settling down in very thick rough.
The 2018 Masters champion hit back, though, and silenced his critics with a stellar conclusion to his week at Torrey Pines.
Reed signed off with a four-under-par 68 to edge ahead of the rest of the field with a winning score of 14 under par.
It was more than enough for him to secure his ninth career win on the PGA Tour, finishing ahead of a group of five players, who ended in T2.
The 30-year-old cited his composure and character to stand tall in the face of adversity after receiving major backlash for Saturday’s incident.
6th hole for @PReedGolf this weekend:
Saturday: 40-footer for eagle.
Sunday: 46-footer for eagle.He leads by 2 @FarmersInsOpen.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/6Cf1v3Uugn
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 31, 2021
‘You look at all the great players throughout times, all of them are really resilient. It doesn’t really matter what’s going on around them, what’s going on on the golf course, whether they’re getting good breaks or bad breaks, they seem to really figure out a way to get the job done, to really just dive in and to keep on improving each shot each day,’ he said.
‘That’s golf, that’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s why I love the game. It throws punches at you; you throw punches at it. And, at the end of the day, hopefully you’re the one standing.
‘Golf’s hard as it is, and you come to a place like this where it’s so demanding. Not just off the tees. It doesn’t matter if it’s a drive, an iron shot, a wedge shot, putt, you have to be all locked in 24/7.’
South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel finished his week off with a good performance on Sunday, going four under for the final round.
The 68 had him jump a couple of places on the leaderboard, securing a share of 18th spot with his five under par.
Louis Oosthuizen finished a stroke back on four under par for the event, while Dylan Frittelli shot a three-over-par 75 for the final round, ending his week on one over.
