Patrick Reed was more concerned about how to save par than how to answer his critics. He was consumed with navigating around the trees from 152 yards away with a gap wedge more than any chatter about his character. Reed plays only for himself. And when it feels as though the world is against him, he plays his best.
A week that began with Brooks Koepka saying he thought Reed cheated when he was penalized for swiping away sand in the Bahamas ended with Reed delivering clutch moments down the stretch Sunday to win the Mexico Championship.
Two shots behind with four holes to play, Reed ran off three straight birdies to overtake a faltering Bryson DeChambeau, closing with a 4-under 67 for his second World Golf Championships title.
Reed made it interesting in the end with a wild tee shot into the trees on the 18th hole, forcing him to chip back to the fairway. He had to two-putt from 35 feet for the eighth victory of his PGA Tour career.
He one-putted 45 times over 72 holes, an astounding performance on the poa greens of Chapultepec. The birdies at the end might not have mattered without par putts from 10 feet on the 11th and 8 feet on the 13th as DeChambeau was starting to pull away.