When Patrick Reed was walking up the 18th fairway at Augusta on Sunday there were cheers from the crowd. But not the kind of cheering you would expect for the presumptive winner of the first PGA major of 2018. Reed has always been a kind of crowd un-favorite, like a Bizarro Superman version of Jordan Speith or Ricky Fowler. Golf has always had it's "heels"; players that for one reason or another don't have the love of the fans and whatever respect they have earned could best be described as "grudging". Some players, like Ben Hogan, were too aloof and prickly to win the favor of the crowd. Some (looking at you, Sergio) play too slow and have the reputation of being whingers. Some are kind of jerks, like Rory Sabbitini. I've been around enough elite golfers to say that it's not uncommon to find that many of them are high-strung. On edge. Wound a little too tight. It's a really weird conundrum: being tense is one of the biggest pitfall for amateurs. But that highly-strung quality is not uncommon among the world's best players.

Reed came with some baggage when he turned pro. He had been expelled from Georgia following allegations that he cheated in competition and that he had stolen an expensive putter from a teammate. Also, he has a reputation for being curt-ranging-to-testy with fans and media alike.
Then there's the time he had his own parents kicked out of the U.S. Open.

Reed and his parents seem to have had a difficult relationship. They weren't invited to his wedding in 2012 and a lot of what I read seems to indicate some kind of tension between the parents and his wife, Justine. It was also, reportedly, Justine who had the elder Reeds bounced from the 2014 US Open at Pinehurst. The story goes that Bill and Jeanette Reed had gotten tickets to the Open (their son, Patrick, had not given them any). They followed Patrick through the round, as did Justine. Then, on the 18th hole, they were approached by police officers and tournament officials who escorted them off the grounds. According to the Reed's one USGA official told them it was Justine who asked that they be removed.

Patrick Reed's parents were not at the Masters even though they reside in Augusta. Maybe they were watching at home. Maybe, unlike many in the crowd, they cheered when their son won the Masters. Maybe.

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