MAMARONECK, N.Y. – The most subdued hole-in-one in modern U.S. Open history may end up being the spark that Patrick Reed needed at Winged Foot.
Reed already had a hole-in-one on the PGA Tour in his career, but his “90-percenter” 9-iron at the par-3 seventh hole early Thursday will be the one people remember based largely on the lack of people. Without fans at the year’s second major, Reed’s one-hop ace was met with stunned silence followed by a few fist pumps among the members of his group.
“It would have been nuts. Up here in New York, the fans are amazing. You go ahead and you hole out from the fairway, you make a hole-in-one, the fans will just go crazy,” Reed said following a first-round 66 that left him one stroke off the lead.
Despite the lack of celebration, the hole-in-one did swing momentum for Reed after he made a double-bogey-6 at the fifth hole.
“I was excited about it but really I knew from that point that, ‘Hey, you need to settle down, get ready for the next hole,’” Reed said. “Around here at Winged Foot, every golf shot you have to basically pay attention to because you hit one poor golf shot, a lot of things can happen out here.”
Reed’s first hole-in-one on Tour was at the 2016 Houston Open.