NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Patrick Reed delivered his best Rory McIlroy impression when asked to describe his second round Friday at Aronimink.
“S–t,’’ Reed said after shooting a 2-over 72, which followed his opening-round 68 and has him still in contention at even par.
Reed, the only player in the field who hadn’t played a tournament since the Masters, was the only player in the 156–player field not to bogey a single hole Thursday.
He bogeyed No. 6 on Friday and later added bogeys on 15 and 16.
“I just didn’t hit the ball very solid … didn’t hit it well,’’ Reed said. “Hitting unsolid, crooked balls going nowhere, hitting in the rough makes it harder to hit shots at the greens. You’re having to scramble all day.’’
Reed conceded that as the round wore on, he began to force the issue to make birdies.
“I finally got sick and tired of making 5,000 pars, so I tried to get a little too aggressive on 15 and made a mental mistake there,’’ he said. “Then a poor tee shot on the next. That’s what major championships do in places like this playing tough. You’re out there playing boring par golf and you want to make birdies, so you try to get aggressive, and that’s where you can make mistakes. I made two of them, and because of that I’m sitting here at even par.”
Reed hopes Friday ends up being his one poor round for the week.
“You always know you’re going to have adversity at some point at every major you play,’’ he said. “Hopefully, that was (Friday) and we’re able to tighten it up and get it back on track. It’s me being picky, but it wasn’t far off.’’
Reed, who left LIV Golf last year and is serving a yearlong suspension from the PGA Tour that ends in August, has been playing on the DP World Tour, where he won twice earlier in the year.
Asked how far off he is from that form, he said, “Not far off at all.’’
