Reed snatches win after most controversial week of his career
WGC-Mexico Championship report: What happened at Club de Golf Chapultepec?
In a week where Patrick Reed has been subject of further scrutiny over his rules incident at the Hero World Challenge, he showed that his head was still very much in the game in Mexico.
Reed was a stand-out performer on the final day at Chapultepec putting the criticism of Brooks Koepka and Peter Kostis to the back of his mind to record a score of 67 for an 18-under winning total.
He leaned heavily on his putter throughout and it did not let him down as he was able to eclipse Bryson DeChambeau’s clubhouse target by one shot.
It was on the back nine that Reed came alive after making the turn with one birdie and he added four more from there including three on the bounce from 15 through 17.
With DeChambeau carding a costly bogey ahead of Reed at the 17th, after hitting his first putt well past the hole, he had a two-shot lead heading up the last and, despite a loose tee shot, he was able to make bogey to secure his eighth PGA Tour title.
Justin Thomas began the final round as the man to catch but his closing 73 was lacklustre and he stumbled over the line in a tie for 6th.
Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy both secured yet another top-5 finish – Rahm shared 3rd while McIlroy took solo 5th. Abraham Ancer enjoyed a good week in his home country finishing in a tie for 12th.
WGC-Mexico Championship leaderboard
-18 Patrick Reed
-17 Bryson DeChambeau
-15 Jon Rahm, Erik van Rooyen
-14 Rory McIlroy
-13 Hideki Matsuyama, Tyrrell Hatton, Justin Thomas
Full leaderboard (external site)
WGC-Mexico Championship report: Talking points
Sungjae Im has taken to the PGA Tour like a seasoned professional despite only joining the tour last season and this week he was on the receiving end on one of the craziest breaks we’ve seen.
His tee shot at the par-3 7th found the water, only it didn’t actually find the water…
You can watch it here and decide for yourselves whether this is the luckiest shot of all time.
- Related: What’s in Reed’s bag this year?
Lee Westwood was teeing it up in his umpteenth WGC event this week but his golf on the course wasn’t anything to write home about.
But his response to DeChambeau’s spike mark strop on the other hand is well worth talking about. Check it out here.
WGC-Mexico Championship report: Anything else?
While the majority of the golfing world was focused on the drama in Mexico there was a significant win for Viktor Hovland in the opposite field event on the PGA Tour.
The Puerto Rico Open was the site of the rookie’s maiden win as he became the first Norwegian to win on the PGA Tour.
He closed out the victory in sensational style and this led to the best bit of commentary you will hear all year. Check it out here.
Joe Hughes
Tour editor covering men's golf, women's golf and anything else that involves the word golf, really. The talk is far better than the game, but the work has begun to change that.
