MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 13, 2025

Patrick Reed

Quick Quotes

Q. You just needed to hole out again on 18.

PATRICK REED: I know. The putter. The putter killed me. Killed me this week. Really lost my opportunity to win a green jacket because of the putter.

And yeah, I hit it well enough. I felt like I was hitting my putts where I was looking. Even today on the par-5, 13, I felt like I hit a good first putt. Seemed like it wiggled a hair left quickly on me, and when approximate they get that glassy, they can get away from you, and I thought I hit a good second one.

It was one of those things that the putter cost me this week, but the good thing is, hey, ball-striking is there, and even when I'm not really feeling like I have it all that I need this week, I still had a chance.

Had an outside chance I felt like going into today, and really, I still had a chance today.

Q. When you rolled off those four straight birdies, did you think, all right --

PATRICK REED: Yeah, I still thought I needed some help because at that point he was 13-under. So yeah, I rallied off, what, four of them, I got to 8, and I'm still five back. So I knew I needed some help.

Hey, he gave me some help; I just didn't capitalize on it. It was kind of one of those days that I got off to the wrong type of start. I thought I hit a good tee shot on 1 and ended up barely in the rough and we played for a jumper and it came out hotter than that.

You can't go over that green to that pin, and a quick bogey there. Thought I put it in the right spot on 2, make par, and then hit the two shots exactly how I wanted on 3, make bogey.

You can't get off to a start like that, especially being that far behind.

To make 4 there, four in a row and get charging, it was nice, but it would have definitely helped.

Q. I don't know if you play the what-if game --

PATRICK REED: He just missed the putt, so I would have been in a playoff if I made that. So that's one of those things, you make it, it probably give you that momentum going into 14 and probably hit a little better iron shot than I did, might have an opportunity to go there on 15.

I just barely missed the drive to not have a chance to go. I was in between hybrid and 3-wood, just I'm not sending 3-wood into that green with how firm it is. It's just kind of one of those. I get out there, and the last thing I want to do is sit here this week and play that what-if game because you can go back and find three shots easily throughout every round.

Q. Can you describe 17? You didn't need a putter on that hole.

PATRICK REED: Yeah, you hit it close enough, you don't need to putt. 17, I hit a great drive. 17 and 18 have always kind of been an Achilles heel of mine, and I hit a great drive there on 17 and I was in between -- Kess wanted me to hit a little softer pitching wedge, like 80 percent. I was like, nah, I got to hit 90 percent because I have to make sure it covers that bunker on the right.

I hit 90 percent right after it, and then all of a sudden we can't really see it because it's kind of shiny and everything up there. I was flag hunting, and they said it one or two-hopped in. It was either going in or it was going to be really close.

To make that was really cool because you sit there and go, hey, mathematically I might have a chance. But yeah, I mean, anytime you can make an eagle and have hardware around here is awesome. Just wish I would have got off to a little better start and had a chance because my putter was cold.

My putter was cold the first two days, and today it was there in spurts, but I just wasn't consistent enough around the greens with the flat stick.

Q. Patrick on 13 are you (indiscernible)?

PATRICK REED: I mean, honestly, the first one was four feet, that birdie putt, and we're playing it right edge, and I felt like it started there. Halfway there, that's a really just shiny patch there. It was kind of getting crusty out there and seemed to really skid and go hard left on me and caught the lip.

Because anytime you miss a putt low here, it just goes three, four feet. It went four feet past that point after it hit the lip. Honestly, you're more upset about the first one because you feel like you should make it. I feel like I hit a good putt. To win at Augusta, you can't miss putts like that. You can't miss the short ones.

On 18 I don't think I missed any of them, and maybe one or two, but I could count way too many that I missed this week.

Yeah, it's encouraging, the game. The ball-striking, even when it felt a little off, I still wasn't putting it in the right spots. The only thing I feel like I really need to work on this week is to get the putter rolling because I felt like I hit a lot of good putts, I just didn't make any.

Q. Are you surprised it lasted the entire tournament?

PATRICK REED: The putter? Yeah, I am. The thing is this place gets harder to putt every day. The greens get firmer, greens get a little bit more baked, they get a little crustier and the ball just seems to glide on them and it can wiggle really quickly because you have to hit them so soft.

You can't hit putts here with speed. You hit them with speed, you could be on the greens forever, all day.

Yeah, it was just kind of one of those that I couldn't dial it in. I'd make one and then I'd miss one and it was kind of one of those back and forth type of things.

Yeah, the good thing is I know where to put the ball on these greens, I know where to leave myself, and even on a week like this where I felt like I didn't have all I needed, I still had an opportunity really -- even with how I ended the day, I still had an opportunity to take this golf tournament.

Q. Do you walk away from here thinking there's another green jacket --

PATRICK REED: Yeah, for sure. That's the first thing Kess said when we were on the last. I looked at the leaderboard, saw that, all right, I can give this putt a really good run at it, try to make birdie there.

But a birdie doesn't do anything. I knew Rory hit the fairway on 18, and so I sat there and just thought to myself, hey, give this -- try to make the putt, but at the same time make sure it's just a kick-in.

First thing he said to me is hey, we keep doing what you're doing, you're going to have another one of these. The game is where it needs to be. I'm doing things the right way. Now it's just put it all together and make some putts.