FORT WORTH, Texas — Forget the Friday stretch, the one in which Patrick Reed posted four bogeys in seven holes. Reed certainly is trying to.
And determined to turn things around after that potentially tournament-sabotaging stretch, the former Augusta State got off to a quick start during the third round of the Charles Schwab Challenge, taking advantage of cooler morning conditions to knock in birdies on his first three holes.
By day’s end, Reed had fought his way back into contention using an almost error-free 63 to come in at 10-under through three days. He won’t be in the final few pairings on Sunday, but he’ll be within striking distance. Other big names at 10-under include Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, and Bryson DeChambeau.
“Yeah, you know, it’s what I needed to do today. I think that was the biggest thing,” Reed said. “Coming into today, I just felt like I did a lot of things solid the first two days, but I just made too many careless mistakes, so I was trying to clean that up today, and I felt like I did a good job on that and just gave myself a chance with my putter.”
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Reed used his putter to get back into the discussion, finishing with just 23 putts, good enough for the top spot on the day in strokes gained putting. For now, he’s simply happy that he clawed back after Friday’s struggles,
“I kind of dug myself a hole yesterday morning, got myself outside that cut line, and it’s just never a good taste missing a cut, especially after having three months off to kind of come into this week,” Reed said. “I knew I had put in the work, I just needed to get something going. Something kind of clicked yesterday in the swing that kind of allowed me to hit it a little closer and make some putts, and I just kind of ran with it today.
“I felt like I had a good warmup and because of that I was able to get off to a hot start.”
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Now what remains? Reed’s game seems primed, and he went into the break with a strong stretch that included a win at the WGC-Mexico, a T-6 at the Farmers Insurance Open and a tied for second Sentry Tournament of Champions.
So what can get in Reed’s way tomorrow here in Fort Worth?
“It just all depends what Texas decides to do with the wind. If it starts to blow a little bit, starts to swirl, you never know,” he said. “You would think somebody has got to go low. But I did what I had to do today to give myself a chance to win tomorrow, it’s just going to take another low one.”
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