Reed reacts to his ending birdie falling within the gap on the 18th.
Worldwide Collection
If a Masters champion shoots 59 in the midst of the night time, does it make a sound?
Definitely! Patrick Reed did precisely that whereas American golf followers have been sleeping, taking a three-shot lead Saturday on the Hong Kong Open, an Worldwide Collection occasion. And whereas it’s going to go an extended approach to serving to him win on the offshoot, feeder tour for LIV Golf, does that spherical really depend? Like, formally?
Sadly for Reed, the reply is a bit difficult, because the third spherical was contested underneath a most well-liked lies provision given latest climate within the space.
In terms of capturing a rating for a particular event, each spherical clearly counts, however when it comes to setting a scoring document on a given day, the document books of various excursions use completely different stipulations. For many years, the PGA Tour has allowed most well-liked lies rounds to depend as official rounds within the document books. However on the DP World Tour, principally primarily based in Europe, rounds contested underneath carry, clear and place do not depend within the official document books.
Okay, honest sufficient. However how concerning the Worldwide Collection on the Asian Tour? The sequence itself is just a few years outdated, launched in 2022 as a part of a large funding from LIV Golf. The document spherical on the Asian Tour was a 59 shot by John Catlin simply six months in the past. Catlin, who crammed in for Charles Howell III on Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers group this summer time, paradoxically put that present on in entrance of Reed, his enjoying accomplice that day.
Importantly, although, Catlin’s 59 was shot underneath regular situations. And the Asian Tour doesn’t permit for most well-liked lies rounds to face in its document books, nullifying the historic nature of Reed’s spherical. That mentioned, you’ll be able to solely shoot the very best spherical underneath the situations and state of affairs in entrance of you. Reed’s 59 continues to be a 59 — although it got here on a 6,710-yard par-70 — and a 59 was greater than 9 photographs higher than the sphere common in that third spherical. That makes it fairly darn nice.
Ultimately, the spherical could also be much less historic than it’s iconic. Reed admitted to having a brutal warmup earlier than reaching the first tee.
“I received up, I felt a bit tight however felt able to go and received out right here and had in all probability one of many worst warmups ever,” Reed mentioned. “I checked out my caddy, and he goes, ‘Hey, a warmup is a warmup, let’s exit and simply play golf.’ He goes, ‘A few of your finest rounds have come from a poor warmup.’”
Reed adopted that pep speak by birdieing the opening 5 holes, then ending with birdies on the ultimate 4, together with a 15-footer that curled in on the final. He’ll now start the ultimate spherical with a three-shot lead over Rashid Khan and Nitihorn Thippong. Whereas it might not be the power of area Reed is accustomed to, it might stand as his first win since the 2021 Farmers Insurance coverage Open on the PGA Tour.
