With the temps in the teens and the snow coming down here in the Hudson Valley watching the pros playing at Kapaula is a welcome sight and a tonic for my winter blues.
Half of the 2016 winning American Ryder Cup Team is taking advantage of the wonderful Hawaiian weather so there was bound to be a few conversations concerning the overdue American triumph.
Rex Hoggard of the Golf Channel spent a few minutes with the emotional heart of the American squad, Patrick Reed. Reed was easily the most animated of all the players at Hazeltine and he’ll be looking to pull on that experience this season.
His singles match with Rory McIlroy was the highlight of the week and that stretch where they traded birdies, primal screams, fist pumps, crowd taunts and finger wags put it in the legendary category.
Without a doubt it was the best stretch of holes of the season, only topped by the full eighteen of Henrik versus Phil in the final round of the Open Championship.
He called that day “crazy” and said none of the emotion was anger based it’s just that he loves playing for his country.
“We were laughing and talking almost the entire round,” he said of his Sunday match with McIlroy. “It would have been really cool to see if they had the cameras on us from when we walked up to the first tee and just followed us the entire round, because it was a very fun banter back and forth.”
He’ll try and find a way to funnel that success into 2017.
“We thought a lot about it,” he said. “The hard part is tapping back into it, and also when your mind is not right and your body doesn’t feel very good. It’s hard to snap into that.”
“It just brings out the beast in me,” Reed said before slipping into a fitting third-person narrative. “He’s going to probably pop in his headphones. If it’s 20 degrees outside, he’ll be in a short-sleeved shirt and we’ll all think he’s crazy, but he is crazy.
“He’s going to go out and he’s going to take on the world, literally. You know, it’s just so much fun.”
Long before the Ryder Cup Reed had earned a reputation for being a bit full of himself, abrasive and anything but a choir boy. But his superb play and expressive demeanor has now cast him in a different light that has been embraced by golf fans.
Yes, he’s a beast on the course but with the Ryder Cup in hand he’s a more lovable beast.
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