You may not like him, but golf fans should respect Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed is a popular punching bag for golf fans and media. But if you’re going to dislike him for his antics, you also have to applaud him for his success

Love him, hate him, or completely loathe him, there is no denying Patrick Reed is one of the most talented players on the PGA Tour.

Still just 29, his list of accomplishments is a long one: a Green Jacket; two World Golf Championships, his second coming at the WGC-Mexico Championship on Sunday; and eight PGA titles. He has as many major championships as Dustin Johnson, one more PGA Tour win than Brooks Koepka, and is one of only 15 players to win two WGC events since their inception in 1999.

But for all of Reed’s success on the golf course, his record of transgressions is just as long. Cheating allegations have dogged him since college when he was kicked off the golf team at the University of Georgia. Last week, former CBS golf commentator Peter Kostis said on the No Laying Up podcast he’s seen Reed cheat by improving his lie on four occasions. Then there’s his relationship with his fellow PGA Tour pros.

Reed arrived in Paris for the Ryder Cup in 2018 as “Captain America,” a moniker he earned off stellar performances at Hazeltine in 2016 and Gleneagles in 2014. He left after soundly losing two matches paired with Tiger Woods and called out captain Jim Furyk for blindsiding him by splitting him up from usual partner Jordan Spieth; an anonymous teammate responded Reed’s selfishness brought down the entire team.

Again, at the Hero World Challenge in December, Reed made himself the target of conservation for all the wrong reasons. Leading the tournament during the third round, his second shot on the par-five 11th hole found a sandy waste area. Cameras caught Reed intentionally grounding his club behind the ball and removing sand to improve his lie. He was penalized two shots and went on to lose the tournament—by two shots.

From his brash self-confidence bordering on arrogance (declaring himself a top-five player in the world after winning the WGC at Doral for the first time in 2014) to his complicated relationship with his parents, Reed is the most psychoanalyzed player on tour aside from Woods. What really stands out about him, though, is his ability to put all that behind him when it matters most.

He did it again on Sunday, making four birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back-nine to beat Bryson DeChambeau by one shot at 18-under. Reed finished the tournament with 45 one-putts, the most by any PGA Tour champion in at least 30 years. He was back in the winner’s circle less than a week after Kostis’ comments brought his past into the limelight.

Afterward, Reed was asked how he’s able to ignore all the distractions facing him off-the-course. His reply, unsurprising for a player who keeps his thoughts limited to a small inner circle including his brother-in-law and caddie Kessler Karain, was that he’s only focused on what he can control.

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“I felt like I had something to prove to myself coming into this week. Because I felt like I’ve been playing some really solid golf and just haven’t quite gotten over the hump to get the W,” he said on Sunday night. “Coming into this week I knew we were in good pattern and I knew all I needed to do was continue to improve on my golf game and at the same time block out the noise, no matter what it was. I feel like I’ve been able to do that really well throughout my career. When I get inside the ropes at the golf course just focus on what I need to do and that is play golf.”

Reed doesn’t see himself as the villain of the PGA Tour, a role he’s often portrayed in by golf media. Focusing just on his controversies fails to take into account all the charity work he does back home in Houston through his Team Reed Foundation. It doesn’t take into account his work ethic and tenacity, like in 2012 when he was still a young player looking to make his way on tour and crisscrossing the country to Monday qualify for six events. But if fans still want to think of him as a villain, it doesn’t bother him.

“I’m used to it,” he said. “Honestly, it’s one of those things where all I can control is me and what I do on and off the golf course. And if I feel like I’m improving each day on and off the golf course and setting a good example for the next generation coming up, the children as well as my own children, that’s all I can do. I feel like I’ve been doing a good job of that and I feel like I’m growing as a person as well as a golfer. That’s all I can really do.”

Reed doesn’t engender much love from PGA Tour galleries but after his performance on Sunday in Mexico and throughout his career, he deserves their respect.