Patrick Reed would be the first to admit that it’s been a pretty quiet season for him.
Until Saturday at the U.S. Open.
Looking for some lost magic, he broke out a pair of his navy blue trousers with the Ryder Cup logo near the bottom of the pants leg.
It worked.
Reed got his day at Erin Hills rolling with three-straight front nine birdies starting at the sixth hole.
He added another at the 12th then had another three-hole birdie run starting at the 14th.
By the time Reed got to the green on the par five 18th, he was staring at a three-foot birdie putt for 64 — a number that would have tied Johnny Miller’s eight-under effort at Oakmont in 1973 over the final 18 holes.
“I hit a perfect putt,” Reed said after watching his bid lip out. Afterward, when told the significance of his miss, he admitted, “I didn’t know that.”
It was still an amazing effort for Reed on moving day. “I had 23 putts and that was with a three-putt,” he pointed out after shooting a 65 that got him to eight-under par.
“I had to do it to get myself back in it,” Reed said.
As for the lucky pants?
“I was running out of regular pans so I brought out the Ryder Cup pants.”
Bet he’s glad he did.
