Daily Times

The bookies had Patrick Reed at 40-1 odds going into the Mexico Championship, which should have come down before he even hit a shot. More accusations of cheating, this time from Brooks Koepka during a town hall show on Sirius XM. And then former CBS analyst Peter Kostis weighed in during a “No Laying Up” podcast in which he said he saw Reed improve his lie four times. The noise got louder.

And that’s when Reed always seems to get better.

His one-shot victory in Mexico City might not quiet any critics. It left no doubt, however, that the 29-year-old Reed might be as resilient as anyone in golf.

He says he doesn’t listen, and that his team – wife Justine, her mother, attorneys – fill him in. Reed slips on ear pods when he arrives on the putting green and uses whatever natural powers he has to block everything out while inside the ropes.

“It didn’t bother me at all,” Reed said. “I’m on the golf course. I’m focusing on what I need to do. My team knows that when I’m playing in tournaments, I’m kind of in my zone doing my thing. I’d have to talk to my team later on to see how much it bothered them or not. Because when it’s tournament week, it’s me going out there, playing golf.” He was part of a massive traffic jam, even by Mexico City standards, at Chapultepec Golf Club. Five players had at least a share of the lead at one point. Four were tied headed for the back nine. Bryson DeChambeau hit the accelerator as just about everyone else – Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Erik van Rooyen – hit the brakes. Reed stayed in the game with a pair of par putts and a birdie on No. 12, his first since the opening hole. Still two shots behind with four holes to play, he picked up a birdie on the par-5 15th. Blocked by the edges of trees left of the 16th fairway, he hooked a gap wedge that rode the ridge of the 16th green and fed down the slope to 3 feet. That gave him the lead when DeChambeau bogeyed the par-3 17th, and Reed followed behind him with an 18-foot birdie putt – his 45th one-putt of the week – that all but sealed it.

He closed with a 4-under 67 for a one-shot victory, his eighth on the PGA Tour and second World Golf Championship.

No one should have been surprised, least of all DeChambeau. He has taken his brunt of criticism for his pace of play, feeling as though he has become a target. DeChambeau was on the putting green in case of a playoff, and when Reed won, he walked over the bridge toward the 18th green to congratulate him.