Reed Holds Off Challenges For Masters Win

Patrick Reed held off final round charges by Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth to win the Masters by one stroke for his first major championship. Tiger Woods shot 69 in the final round to finish one-over for the tournament. Meanwhile, Webb Simpson tied a Masters record with back-to-back eagles in the final round.

On a cool and crisp Georgia afternoon, several of the game’s biggest guns made spirited runs at Patrick Reed, but one by one, he turned them away. Reed, 27, who spent his last two college years at Augusta University, not all that far as the crow flies from Augusta National’s 12th green, was too stubborn to back down, capturing his first major championship by one stroke over Rickie Fowler (67) and by two over Jordan Spieth (64). Reed finished at 15-under 273, becoming Augusta’s fourth consecutive first-time major champion (following Spieth, Danny Willett and Sergio Garcia). All four of the game’s majors are now held by players 27 or younger.

Spieth is only 24, lest we forget, but he’s already built a highly impressive record at this Tournament. He shot 270 to win in 2015 at age 21, and he keeps on giving himself chances, even as most counted him out on Sunday.

Starting nine shots behind Reed, Spieth kept his head down, never glanced at a leader board, and just kept making birdies. There would be nine in all. With a 33-foot curler for birdie at No. 16, he pulled next to Reed at 14-under. Spieth went to No. 18 needing one more birdie to shoot a Masters-record 62 – instead, his drive hugging the left side clipped a limb and kicked straight right, and he made bogey. If it’s ever possible to be disappointed with a Sunday 64, this was the rare time.