“Tiger Woods never did that” - $52M-worth LIV golfer wants 15x major champ’s mental edge in Masters 2025 finale
Patrick Reed shot a 3-under 69 on Saturday to sit T4 on the Masters 2025 leaderboard. The 2018 Masters champion closed with three birdies over his final six holes, giving him a big chance to clinch the Green Jacket for the second time in his career. A win here would also open up Ryder Cup opportunities for the man nicknamed Captain America.
Reed sat six shots behind leader Rory McIlroy at the end of Day 3. Despite this, the ace golfer looks confident to finish high at Augusta. Interestingly, the 34-year-old admitted his wish to channel legendary Tiger Woods’ Masters mentality to finish big on Sunday. The LIV star lauded the 15-time major champion by stating that ‘everyone wants to play’ like the latter.
The nine-time PGA Tour winner said Woods “never beats himself” and ‘manages himself around every golf course’ well. He added that the five-time Masters champion ‘never’ made mental errors and ‘gave a freebie back to the field.’
Speaking about Tiger Woods, Patrick Reed said on Saturday, as quoted by ASAP Sports:
“Everyone wants to play like him (Tiger), right? Growing up watching the way he played around this place, but just the way he's played in general, the one thing that's so impressive is how well his game travels, how well he plays and how well he just manages himself around every golf course… He never beats himself. I think that's something that's so important.
You see all these guys chasing distance, but Tiger Woods would never beat himself. He'd put himself in the right spots… You play against some of these other guys, when they're on, they're on, but everyone -- I done it twice today. Mental errors, you're giving a freebie back to the field. Tiger never did that. That just shows you how much confidence he has in his game.”
Patrick Reed 'definitely missed' Tiger Woods at Champions Dinner
Patrick Reed went on to claim “there was no one better” than Tiger Woods in his prime. He reiterated that he hopes to ‘channel’ some of the 15-time major champion’s skills on Sunday. It is pertinent to note that Woods is sitting the ongoing Masters out due to injury. The ace golfer also skipped the annual Champions Dinner earlier in the week.
The Scottie Scheffler-hosted dinner was attended by Reed, who joined fellow LIV stars Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, and Jon Rahm on the table. However, Woods skipped the ceremonial event and Reed didn’t seem too happy about it. The former PGA Tour star said Woods was “definitely missed” at the event and said it “different” without the latter.
Commenting on Tuesday’s Champions Dinner without Tiger Woods, Reed said:
“I mean, it was different. You always want all the champions there. He's a huge part of not just that Champions Dinner but he's a huge part of golf. So, to not have Tiger there, he was definitely missed. But at the same time, we all completely understand why he wasn't there.”
Reed went on to wish Woods a speedy recovery. He added that he hoped the legendary golfer “can get healthy soon” and be back on playing fields.