Patrick Reed Is Taking Advantage of His Newfound Free Time

The former LIV player didn't play a tournament after the Masters, opting for family time and preparation on his own. Shooting the only bogey-free round Thursday shows he chose wisely, Bob Harig writes.

Patrick Reed was the only player in the 156-man PGA Championship field to play a bogey-free opening round. | James Lang-Imagn Images

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Patrick Reed spent the past month not quite knowing what to do with himself. For the first time since ... well ... never, he didn’t have a tournament to play between major championships.

So Reed spent time practicing in Houston, came to Aronimink for three days last week, and was the only player in the field during the first round of the PGA Championship to go without a bogey.

“Definitely weird. Yeah, this year obviously a unique situation,” said Reed, the 2018 Masters champion who is playing the DP World Tour in 2026. “With taking that time off since Augusta, it's been just a lot of grinding and preparing.

“Really, it’s kind of one of those that you finally feel like you can actually properly prepare. Even though I wasn’t playing tournament golf, I was kind of doing a lot of things and studying not only my golf game, but also around the golf course, kind of what is it that we’re going to deal with when we come up here.

“I feel like that was something usually coming into majors a little tired, even though I would say I’m tournament-ready, because I’ve played a lot of tournament golf, but you don’t really actually get to prepare.

“So this trip I was actually kind of able to prepare for this one. When I wasn’t playing golf, I was able to kind of get away from the game, spend time with family and the kiddos, and just kind off mentally reset and get myself mentally and physically sharp coming in.”

Reed was sharp, hitting 16 of 18 greens but making just two birdies, one from close range.

Still, a score of 68 on a difficult day that saw him playing in cool, windy afternoon conditions sees Reed just a shot out of the lead held by seven players, including world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.

Reed, who is ranked 24th in the Official World Golf Ranking due to strong play on the DP World Tour, is in a unique situation because he somewhat abruptly left LIV Golf in January after four years as part of the circuit.

He maintains there was no ill will, noting that he had no issue with the league and that he was prepared to go back for LIV’s first event in Riyadh in early February. But playing two events in Dubai early in the year, Reed started wondering about his future—and undoubtedly was prompted in part by Brooks Koepka’s decision to return to the PGA Tour.

Although Reed faces a different set of rules—he can begin to play the Tour again as a non-member in September (Presidents Cup?) and can rejoin the PGA Tour in January.

How Patrick Reed will regain full status on the PGA Tour

And based on his play on the DP World Tour, he will regain full status via the exemption for the top 10 players on the Race to Dubai final standings.

Reed has won tournaments in Dubai and Qatar earlier this year and lost in a playoff in Bahrain. He currently leads Rory McIlroy in the points list and since McIlroy is a PGA Tour member, he doesn’t even count in the standings.

In other words, Reed is all but a lock to be back on the PGA Tour next year.

“When we were looking at the schedule, it seemed like it was going to be kind of set up the way it is right now, where I wasn’t going to play in between here, and also wasn’t going to play until the U.S. Open,” Reed said. “So I kind of have these breaks.

“Once the U.S. Open gets here, it’s going to be hot and heavy. I felt like a lot of the events, I’ll be going overseas and playing a lot of those tournaments. It was kind of one of those that I didn’t want to play too many early on and kind of wear myself out before the majors.”

Reed used the opportunity away from tournament golf to come to the Philadelphia area three days last week and spend time on the course.

He put it to good use.

“The three days I was here, I felt like we had three different seasons,” he said. “The first day, it was maybe 70 degrees, but it was blowing 25, 30 mph. The second day it was hot and still blowing. Then the last day, it was raining all day, and it was cold. I hit a great drive on 10, I hit 7-wood and barely got to the front of the green.

“So I felt like I saw three different types of golf courses. I really felt like it helped going into this week because you just never know. You never know with the weather, what the wind does, or anything like that, what you’re going to get yourself a part of.”

Reed will likely see a different course again on Friday morning, when he tees off at 8:02 a.m. local time.

“During the season, I don’t take breaks that long,” said Reed, a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour who won once on the LIV Golf League. “You know me, I’m a competitor. I love to grind. I love to be in there playing with the guys.

“This year’s a little different. Honestly, I enjoyed my time at home. I enjoyed actually getting to grind, to prepare, and work on things and get ready for this week. Hopefully I can continue the solid play and get myself up there and have a chance late Sunday. Who knows, it might be a new thing.”