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THE BARCLAYSAugust 20, 2013Patrick ReedJERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY JOHN BUSH: We welcome Patrick Reed here to the interview room of The Barclays, fresh off of his win Sunday at the Wyndham Championship. First of all congratulations on the win, if you can take us back to Sunday and how much that changed your career, actually. PATRICK REED: Oh, I mean, it was a life‑changing moment, that's for sure. You know, Sunday, I felt great. I couldn't feel my body, couldn't really feel anything before I got to the first tee. The nerves were going, but, you know, like my wife always said, when you're nervous, that means you're ready. We were ready to go, and felt really confident, especially after that front nine, shooting 4‑under. I felt like everything was going, and really I felt like I played the same way I did on the back as I did on the front. Only thing is I didn't make any putts. You know, to be in that position, to have a one‑shot lead with three to play, I realized how tough it really is. You know, it went in and the nerves got me on 16, had a 20‑foot uphill putt, probably a basic putt. I decided to hit it 30 feet and after that, missed a 10‑footer and ended up making bogey. Whenever we got into the playoff, I felt really comfortable. I don't know why, but I was really comfortable in the position we were. I think it was because I only had to play against one person, not 70 of the top players to play against. To go into that playoff, win the way I did with hitting a shot that I've been fighting all year meant a lot to not only myself but also probably my wife. JOHN BUSH: With that win, you move up to 22 in the standings, well positioned for the FedExCup here in the Playoffs. Just your take on the next four events. PATRICK REED: It was one of our goals to get to the playoffs and to be here, it means a lot, and to be able to come, haven't seen the golf course yet, I've heard a lot about it, and to be able to come and have a shot getting into East Lake, especially my first year out here, full member, it means a lot. It shows that all our hard work is really paying off. Q. Can you talk about the last few days, any particular congratulatory texts or calls or whatever? PATRICK REED: The texts are still definitely coming in. We've probably had over a hundred, hundred texts, hundred e‑mails, just the support that we've had has been great. It still is kicking in and once we got here and pulled in to see two good friends of mine, Robert Garrigus and Jerry Kelly who were the first players to see, came up and gave me a big hug, said congrats; it meant a lot. It's not every day you win a PGA TOUR event, and it's always been a dream and to have that happened, that's when it really started to set in. Q. The shot of your life, obviously you don't practice‑‑ how many times have you actually had the chance to hit that in your head? PATRICK REED: Usually I don't have that often. That's the reason why my stats are really good from the left rough is because I play draws. When I get in the right rough, I'm six or even more under par from the left rough and I'm over par from the right rough. So to be over there in the right rough, a tree in my way where I can't play my draw, I was like, okay, I don't really practice this shot. I worked on it last week with my swing coach because that's what we've been working on, but even when I tried it earlier in the week, I'm trying off of that lie to hit it straight, every ball has been 15, 20 feet left of the flag. Well, if you go 15, 20 feet left of the flag on 10, catching that ridge, it's coming down, it might even come off the front of the green. And to actually set up and stick to what my swing coach and I worked on, hitting that straight shot, and holding it off, it came off perfect and I still don't know how it happened. Q. Did you visualize it before you hit it? PATRICK REED: I did. We stuck with ‑‑ my swing coach was saying, stick with picture, pattern, pressure, and I just stuck with that routine all week and it worked. I saw what I had to do and the feeling of what I had to do and I just had to execute, and that's the hardest thing. Q. Just wanted to ask, with having your wife on the bag; that something that you've always thought of doing? A lot of guys might like to have personal and professional worlds separate, was that something that's a no‑brainer for you? PATRICK REED: Oh, definitely. Whenever we decided to try it out, like I said, it was 100‑something degrees outside in Houston and I just put the bag with water bottles, rain gear, made it the heaviest I could to see if she could do it. I was struggling the last two holes to make it through the round and she was like she was still on the first hole, still energized and ready to go. I knew at that point this is going to work. To go on our first event, make a cut, last year at Valero and to make it through the Monday qualifier at New Orleans and make the cut there, I knew it was a team that was going to be there for a long time, and we don't plan on stopping any time soon. Q. You beat Jordan in a playoff. What does it say for the younger guys and the future of American golf, to do what you did and what he did at John Deere; what does it say for the young guys coming in and the future of American golf? PATRICK REED: The young guys are just going to keep getting better. As you've seen throughout the years, competition is getting stronger and stronger at every event and more first‑times winner is seems like. I think that is because we all grew up watching Tiger and Phil doing what they have done, and you know, we all want to become like them, and the only way that you can get there is the hard work, the dedication, and the confidence to be able to get that done, and you know, I feel like that's the reason why you're seeing more 20‑year‑olds, 21‑, 22‑, 23‑year‑olds winning events and competing. And I mean, growing up with Jordan, he's always been a really great player and him and I have battled a lot. And so it was fun to see him, you know, going up against me in a playoff on Sunday. JOHN BUSH: Not a bad putt he made on the first playoff hole either. PATRICK REED: I told my wife before he hits it, I knew he was going to make this putt. I had the putt earlier, and you have to hit it harder‑‑ you can't hit it the normal speed because if you do, you're going to miss it low because it breaks four or five feet. It's that putt that literally gets to the hole and goes 90. And with him, I knew, okay, he has to make the putt because if he makes it, he has a chance; and if he misses, he loses, so he could give it the extra speed. It was just that perfect putt. Q. Do you think you guys can come in and play this level than maybe generations before? PATRICK REED: Probably. I mean, I think this generation is more prepared to the fact that we see what it takes, we have seen the best play. We watch them on TV all the time growing up. So we know what we have to get to. I mean, before‑‑ last generation and stuff, it seems like, you know, Tiger ran away with everything. It was Tiger and Phil; who was going to beat them? And now it seems like, oh, well, you have Tiger, you have Jordan, you have myself, you have Phil, the list goes on of how many people have won have year. I think, is it 12 first‑time winners this year, in 26 or 30 events have been played? That just shows how many different people can play and compete, and just shows that anybody in the field has a chance to win. Q. You've always been a player that rides momentum, you had a couple Top‑10s coming into Greensboro, and now you have this stretch‑‑ PATRICK REED: Momentum is always on your side if you are playing well. What we've done is we go into every week as trying to improve; it's going to be hard to improve from last week because it was a win but at the same time there are some things we need to work on. Yes, I'm putting‑‑ I was fifth in strokes gained putting during the week, but at the same time I wasn't very comfortable with how I putted on Saturday. I still had a nine‑hole stretch where I had very bad putting. I mean, I had 19 putts in that stretch. We are going to try to improve this week on putting a little better, more consistent throughout the whole tournament and also work on hitting more fairways. That was a stat I was really far down on, hitting fairways. I'm a firm believer that if I work on what I didn't do well last week and improve on that, we should have a good finish as well. Q. Having just won a PGA TOUR event, can you conceive of what Tiger has done out here, winning 78 more than that? Is that almost a number‑‑ looking at guy like Phil, he's had a great year but only 44 or 48 wins on TOUR‑‑ more than majors, is that even a higher standard? PATRICK REED: 79, that's ridiculous. Anybody that wins that many TOUR events is doing something right. I don't know how many times I heard growing up: He plays golf sunup to sundown when he's at home. And then he's not done: He's going to the gym for a couple hours and then he's coming home, going to sleep, sleeps for five or six hours and gets back at it. That's what it takes. But it seems like nowadays because of how many great players are out here, with how many first‑time winners and everything, that's going to be a hard number to catch. But at the same time, why not try to chase it. JOHN BUSH: Patrick Reed, thank you, sir. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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