Reid signed an apparel deal with Nike in January, but is yet to sign a new equipment agreementGETTY IMAGES
Masters champion Patrick Reed is one of the few major winners "without an equipment contract, choosing to employ a 'mixed bag' of clubs for his tournaments," according to Nihal Kolur of SI.com. Reed's five-year partnership with Callaway ended in '17 and he "signed with Nike in January." However, Nike "only sponsors Reed's apparel and he is yet to sign a new equipment agreement" (SI.com, 4/8). Meanwhile, the WALL STREET JOURNAL's Andrew Beaton noted Reed "typically wears a red shirt with black pants for the final 18 holes of a tournament -- a homage to Tiger Woods." But during the final round of The Masters yesterday, Reed wore a pink shirt, which he "attributed to a coordinated Nike effort to have all its golfers in the same color on any given day" (WSJ.com, 4/8).
EVERYBODY LOVES A VILLAIN: The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly writes Reed's win in Augusta is a shot of "luck" for golf, which is a sport "absent compelling characters since the decline" of Woods. Heroes are in "long supply in golf," but it has "always been short on heels." Reed so "enthusiastically fills the role of pantomime villain that he ought to come to the first tee of every tournament in a black, stovepipe hat" (GLOBE & MAIL, 4/9). In Boston, Tara Sullivan writes Reed has been "cast as golf's easiest villain -- he literally wore a black Nike cap Sunday in contrast to the white one playing partner" Rory McIlroy wore (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/9). In South Carolina, Gene Sapakoff writes any "worthy Hollywood script includes a villain vile enough to elicit sympathy, a bad guy with good intent, the misunderstood miscreant." Sapakoff: "Enter Reed and his resolve under duress Sunday" (Charleston POST & COURIER, 4/9). GOLFCHANNEL.com's Ryan Lavner wrote Reed has "seamlessly played the role of both hero and villain during his turbulent career" (GOLFCHANNEL.com, 4/8). Reed is "probably one of the most disliked golfers on tour and apparently with fans, too" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/9). However, no one is "quite sure why the golfing public has little use for Reed" (ESPN.com, 4/8). Things with Reed are "always a little complicated" (AUGUSTA CHRONICLE, 4/9).
MAKING NO APOLOGIES: CAA's Lowell Taub, who reps Reed, indicated that there are "no plans to remake Reed’s image." Taub said, "We’re going to work with Patrick like he is. I like having a guy with a little vigor and personality" (SI.com, 4/8). In Newark, Steve Politi writes with so many "robotic PGA Tour players out there, you'd think more fans would find Reed's cockiness is refreshing" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 4/9). The AP's Tim Dahlberg writes Reed is "old-school among his generation, with a brash attitude and a willingness to speak his mind" (AP, 4/9). He is "not really concerned with how he's perceived" ("SportsCenter," ESPN, 4/8). Reed is "exactly what golf needs right now -- blunt, confident, with the kind of swagger that allows him to wear" Woods' red shirt on Sundays (N.Y. POST, 4/8). If Reed "played any other sport, his 'tude would go unnoticed" (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 4/9). He "makes no apologies for his words or his deeds" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/9).
ONE MAN AGAINST THE WORLD: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Brian Costa writes the "polite patrons of August National Golf Club do not root against any golfer." However, by their "reactions to him and everyone chasing him, they made their preference clear" yesterday that Reed was "not the player they wanted to win" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 4/9). In Daytona Beach, Ken Willis notes when McIlroy "stepped to the first-tee box a few minutes before the round, he received a noticeably bigger ovation" than Reed (Daytona Beach NEWS-JOURNAL, 4/9). The gallery was "clearly behind McIlroy, even though Reed led Augusta State to a pair of NCAA titles and briefly lived in Augusta" (AP, 4/8). Rickie Fowler "unleashed Augusta National's 18th gallery into ... leaping cheers and lusty hugs vibrating the earth," while Jordan Spieth's near historic comeback touched off the "type of celebration so unique to the stroll up the most famous final fairway in golf." But when Reed's par on the 17th hole was inserted on the course's main scorecard, there were "audible groans around that 18th green" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/9). There was "applause and congratulations" for Reed, but not the "all-out adoration that normally accompanies a new Masters champion, certainly not the kind of adoration Spieth would have received had he won" (N.Y. POST, 4/9). There was a "cheer when the winning stroke dropped into the cup, but there was absolutely not a roar" (SI.com, 4/8).
