The 2018 Masters Tournaments proved to have a dramatic Sunday but not for the reasons anyone originally envisioned. While some people (about a month ago) figured Tiger Woods would be in contention on Sunday, that wasn’t the case. Instead, an incredible effort but Patrick Reed led to his first major title.
Reed first emerged as a contender in the second round, booming to the top of the leader board with a 66. He followed that up with a 67 and a 71 on Sunday. The 71 was his worst of the four rounds but it was just enough to deny a hard-charging Jordan Spieth and a determined Rickie Fowler. He entered the tournament as a 48/1 underdog at BetDSI.
Spieth had the best round of the tournament on Sunday with a 64, pushing his score to -13. However, it wasn’t enough as Reed bested him by two shots. Spieth was at the top of the leader board after Thursday with an opening round 66 but back-to-back sluggish rounds on Friday and Saturday dragged him down. The fact that he began the day nine shots off the lead and still pushed for the win was incredible.
As for Fowler, he made a hard charge in the final two rounds as he was merely at -2 after the first two rounds. It seemed like it he was too far back with Reed shooting in the double digits at that point but Fowler was incredible down the stretch. A 65 on Saturday moved him up the board and a 67 – combined with Reed’s 71 on Sunday – was enough to get him within a whisker. Fowler made six birdies over his final 11 holes but ended up a stroke back at -14.
Rory McIlroy was expected to be Reed’s chief competition on Sunday but he was nowhere to be found. He was a +2 on the day and dropped back. Jon Rahm finished at -11 after a 69 on Sunday to place fourth while four golfers tied for fifth at -9.
As for Woods, who was one of the lead stories going into The Masters, he finished as nothing more but an afterthought. He had his best of the four rounds on Sunday, posting a 69, but still finished in a tie for 32nd place with a +1. He was a complete non-factor at this event.
