NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — On Friday, Patrick Reed channeled his inner Rory McIlroy while reflecting on his performance during the second round at Aronimink Golf Club.
“S–t,” Reed candidly remarked after carding a 2-over 72. This round followed his initial 68, keeping him firmly in the mix at an even par overall.
Reed, notably the sole competitor in the 156-player tournament yet to participate in any event since the Masters, stood out on Thursday by not recording a single bogey.
However, Friday told a different story as Reed encountered challenges, starting with a bogey on the sixth hole, followed by additional bogeys on the 15th and 16th.
Reflecting on his round, Reed admitted, “I just didn’t hit the ball very solid… didn’t hit it well.” He continued, “When you’re hitting unsolid, crooked shots that go nowhere and land in the rough, it makes it much tougher to target the greens. You end up scrambling the entire day.”
Reed conceded that as the round wore on, he began to force the issue to make birdies.
“I finally got sick and tired of making 5,000 pars, so I tried to get a little too aggressive on 15 and made a mental mistake there,’’ he said. “Then a poor tee shot on the next. That’s what major championships do in places like this playing tough. You’re out there playing boring par golf and you want to make birdies, so you try to get aggressive, and that’s where you can make mistakes. I made two of them, and because of that I’m sitting here at even par.”
Reed hopes Friday ends up being his one poor round for the week.
“You always know you’re going to have adversity at some point at every major you play,’’ he said. “Hopefully, that was (Friday) and we’re able to tighten it up and get it back on track. It’s me being picky, but it wasn’t far off.’’
Reed, who left LIV Golf last year and is serving a yearlong suspension from the PGA Tour that ends in August, has been playing on the DP World Tour, where he won twice earlier in the year.
Asked how far off he is from that form, he said, “Not far off at all.’’