Fired up by analysts predicting a win for Rory McIlroy, not to mention an Augusta National crowd that seemed to be backing the Northern Irishman to complete his career Grand Slam, Patrick Reed powered to a one-stroke victory at the Masters.
Reed, who on Sunday saw off a fading McIlroy by the turn, then had to survive challenges from US Ryder Cup teammates Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler before sinking a par putt at the last hole to win the green jacket and his first major championship.
“Listening to all the analysts this morning, every single one of them except [one] would pick Rory [McIlroy],” said Reed, who teed off with a three-shot lead over the Northern Irishman. “It just seemed like the pressure at that point was kind of lifted off. No one expects me to go out and win. I expect to win. Everyone else, even though they said all those great things about how I was playing, they thought Rory was going to win.”
Photo: AFP
Reed also noticed the different receptions he and McIlroy received from the Augusta gallery.
“[Walking] up to the first tee I had a really welcoming cheer from the fans, but when Rory walked up he had a little louder,” Reed said. “It takes the pressure off me and hands it back to him. Rory’s cheer was a little louder.”
Apart from a first-hole bogey, Reed was impervious to the pressure for most of the day, watching McIlroy self-destruct.
He then kept his nose in front of Fowler and Spieth for a one-shot victory, making clutch putts down the stretch, including a nerve-jangling five-footer for par at the penultimate hole.
“To win your first major is never going to be easy,” he said. “I knew it was going to be a dog fight. I always watch leaderboards, whether it’s the first hole on Thursday or the last hole on Sunday.”
“I saw Jordan and Rickie storm up those leaderboards. I knew when I birdied 14 it was about the same time Jordan bogeyed the last,” he added. “I knew at that point as long as there weren’t any catastrophic implosions coming in it was going to be between Rickie and I. The way those guys played towards the end, having to go shoot under par [in the final round to win your] first major was hard.”
He won in his fifth start in Augusta, the city where he went to university.
“Definitely growing up everybody dreams about winning the Masters,” Reed said. “Today was the hardest mentally a round of golf could possibly be. It was awesome and satisfying to make those clutch putts on the back nine.”
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
HSIEH MAKES QUARTERS: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens of Belgium won in the women’s doubles and face Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sofia Kenin of the US Top-ranked Iga Swiatek and US Open champion Coco Gauff were knocked out of the women’s singles at the Miami Open on Monday, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced in the women’s doubles. Swiatek lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-4, 6-2, hours after third seed Gauff fell in three sets to No. 23 Caroline Garcia 6-3, 1-6, 6-2. Alexandrova beat a top-ranked player for the first time and advanced to face Jessica Pegula, a 7-6 (7/1), 6-3 winner over Emma Navarro, in the quarter-finals. Alexandrova recorded her second win over Swiatek, following a 2021 victory in Melbourne. Swiatek had won their three matches since. “We played quite