Patrick Reed’s decision to play two DP World Tour events in South Africa, despite not improving his world rankings, served as a relaxing transition and preparation for The Masters at Augusta, highlighting the strategic importance of course management in his comeback to the PGA Tour. Picture: KARIM JAAFAR / AFP
Image: KARIM JAAFAR / AFP
It was a bit perplexing when American Patrick Reed confirmed he was going to play two DP World Tour (DPWT) events in South Africa.
He played the SA Open in Stellenbosch in the last week of February and then the Joburg Open in the first week of March.
A tie for 29th and a tie for 10th in those events did not even help his world rankings as he dropped from 17th to 20th over those two weeks.
However, as the former LIV Golf player makes the transition back to the PGA Tour, it would provide a good springboard before returning to competitive golf on US soil.
“A lot of my friends had told me about South Africa and that I needed to come here and play. I didn’t go to any game reserves or anything, just spent time relaxing away from the course,” Reed told SportsBoom.com.
On whether playing Stellenbosch Golf Club and Houghton Golf Club would help in his preparation for The Masters at Augusta next month, Reed said: “Well, I mean, Augusta is a completely different golf course, obviously, a different beast.
“But really this one here, you have to hit the ball in the right kind of quadrants, and there at Augusta it's kind of the same thing. You have to hit the ball in the right spots, and if you don't, you're going to kind of struggle. But really, it's completely different golf, these two golf courses, compared to, I guess what I’m going to have to face at Augusta National.”