Ten years ago, Patrick Reed struck a 3-wood on the par-5 second hole at Augusta National Golf Club.
The result?
A decade later, Reed still describes it as, “The weirdest thing that’s happened to me at Augusta.”
It was the final round of the 2015 Masters when Reed blasted a Nike 3-wood and then felt nothing.
“It felt like there was no golf ball,” he said. “Then I looked down and the entire face of my 3-wood was caved in. I literally had a hole in my golf club.”
The USGA and The R&A have since amended a rule to allow competitors to replace a damaged club during a round, provided the player did not impair it through abuse.
In 2015, however, Reed had to complete his round without a 3-wood.
“Any iron would have been fine to break,” he said. “But trying to play this place without a 3-wood is so tough. Just think about No. 8 – it’s driver, 3-wood, easy on the green. But I had no chance without it. There were so many holes where I just had to wing it.”
Winging it. On Sunday at Augusta National.
Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, ended up carding a 2-under-par 70 that Sunday in 2015.
Looking back on the round, the Texan laughed, “That’s definitely a moment I don’t want to happen again. I mean, the face literally disappeared. No grooves, nothing. The entire face was gone.”
Read the full article here