Patrick Reed wins the Wyndham Championship

Patrick Reed (Courtesy: Zimbio.com)

Patrick Reed was able to defeat Jordan Spieth in a playoff on Sunday to claim his first PGA Tour victory in Greensboro at the Wyndham Championship.
 
What Happened
 
Spieth entered the day one shot back of Reed and John Huh, and was able to come home in 31 on the back nine to get into the clubhouse at 14-under par. Huh was able to stay at 14-under par until he came to the 17th hole where back to back bogeys would put him at 12-under and two back of Spieth. Reed was able to hang on with a pair of pars after a bogey on 16, and tied Spieth in the clubhouse at 14-under.
 
Both men went back to the 18th to start the playoff, and Reed appeared to gain an immediate advantage when Spieth had to pitch out from the pinestraw and couldn’t go at the green in two. Reed’s approach landed within eight feet for birdie, while Spieth was 26 feet away for par. Spieth would drain the long par putt, and when Reed missed for birdie, they moved to the par-4 10th.
 
This time, Reed ended up getting into trouble from the tee, ending up dangerously close to the out of bounds. He hit a provisional just in case, but he was able to play his original and after watching Spieth put his approach to about ten feet, Reed stepped up and amazingly stuck his approach to seven feet. Spieth wasn’t able to convert the birdie, but Reed was, and it gave him his first PGA Tour win.
 
Final Leaderboard

• 1. Patrick Reed -14 *wins in playoff*
• 2. Jordan Spieth -14
• T3. Brian Harman -12
• T3. John Huh -12
• T5. Matt Jones -11
• T5. Matt Every -11
• T5. Zach Johnson -11

What The Win Means For Reed
 
When I suggested Reed earlier this week in my betting preview at 100-1, it was on the basis that in a weaker field, it didn’t make sense that a player who was playing as well as Reed had been in the last few weeks, was available at that price. If you’ve been a regular PGA Tour watcher in 2013, you’ve definitely seen Reed near the top of the leaderboard along with his wife Justine who caddies for him. At 23 years old, Reed should be around for a long time, and the win does make him exempt on the PGA Tour for the next two years, as well as gets him into the Masters for the first time in 2014. That should be a pretty big deal for a guy who went to Augusta State and was a big part of their golf team while he was enrolled.
 
In the near term, it puts him in a good spot for the remainder of the season with the FedEx Cup Playoffs starting next week. He’s currently sitting in 22nd place after the win today, so as long as he doesn’t do anything disastrous in the first few playoff events, we could see him advance all the way to the Tour Championship. The first win is always huge, and now Patrick Reed has that first victory. I don’t think we can expect the floodgates to open with him like we do with Spieth, but he’s impressed a lot of people with his game this year.
 
Charles Howell’s DQ
 
Charles Howell was in a tie for 10th at 6-under par after Friday’s second round when he was told that he was being disqualified for using a non-conforming driver under Rule 4-1a. Howell was warming up with his new TaylorMade SLDR on the range before the round when a tiny dial on the bottom of his club head fell off, and that’s what made it illegal. He called TaylorMade before teeing off to see if it would affect performance, and he was assured that it wouldn’t one way or the other, so he kept it in the bag. Apparently the PGA Tour was alerted to the potential infraction by a USGA member. Not sure how that happened, but I guess that’s a moot point. Howell was told of his DQ ahead of Saturday’s third round, and he released a statement about the whole thing:

“The small toe-cap (weighing less than a gram) came off the driver head during my warm-up for the second round in Greensboro. Prior to teeing off, I spoke to the guys at TaylorMade about the toe-cap coming off to be sure that it wouldn’t impact the performance of the club. I was assured it would not effect the club’s performance. The idea that the club would no longer be conforming, because of the missing toe-cap, never entered my mind.”

 
For what it’s worth, Howell isn’t taking the Jeff Overton approach to things and blaming everyone except himself for this mess. It just sucks for a guy who coming into the week was 26th in the FedEx Cup and had a good chance to improve that placement after a good first two days. It’s definitely gotten to the point where the Rules of Golf have become far too big when players are getting DQ’d for things like this, but that’s not likely to change at any point soon.
 
Other Notes

• Notables to miss the cut: Brandt Snedeker, David Lynn, Carl Pettersson, Nick Watney, Peter Hanson, Jimmy Walker, David Lingmerth, Roberto Castro, Bud Cauley, Paul Casey and Padraig Harrington.
• Other notable finishes: Webb Simpson and Robert Garrigus (T11), Hideki Matsuyama (15th), David Toms (T16), Ernie Els, Martin Kaymer and Bill Haas (T20), Tim Clark (T26), Sergio Garcia (T29), Geoff Ogilvy and Boo Weekley (T37).
• Pretty sure that Spieth has a President’s Cup spot locked up now with this performance. There’s almost no chance that Fred Couples leaves him off the team.
• That mid-season switch that Reed did from Nike to Callaway gear seems to be working out pretty well for him, I’d say.
• Another week and another tournament where weather gets in the way, causing the PGA Tour to not show the finish live. Unfortunately, this isn’t likely to change anytime soon.
• Pretty anti-climactic in terms of FedEx Cup movement this week, as nobody moved in or out of the top-125.
• When asked about the usual 10% cut the caddie receives, Justine Reed gave this response:

Justine Reed, caddie/wife of Patrick, was asked how much will her take be. “I’m getting all of it,” she said. “I’m kidding.” @WyndhamChamp

— John Dell (@johndellWSJ) August 18, 2013