OB SPORTS GOLF & LEISURE
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SUMMER 2018
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obsports.com
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TOUR REPORT
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'THE CHAMPION
NOBODY LOVES'
Sports Illustrated once used that
phrase to describe tennis great Ivan
Lendl. Updating it by three decades, it
could very well apply to Masters
champion Patrick Reed.
As mesmerizing as Tiger's run at
the Valspar title was, the event of the
year so far – by far – was April's Mas-
ters. Perhaps lost in the midst of all of
the post-tournament psychoanalyzing
of Patrick Reed was how superbly he
played and how well he handled the
pressure in what was an undeniably
thrilling tournament, even if the
"wrong" guy won.
Reed is a loner on tour, has a cocky,
occasionally off-putting demeanor and
a rocky reputation with past and pres-
ent relationships. None of that should
detract from his steady, occasionally
brilliant final round, which was just
good enough to hold off fast-charging
Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth.
Reed served notice that he was close
with a T2 at the Valspar, which mostly
got lost because of that other guy who
finished T2.
Loved or not, the Ryder Cup hero is
now a major winner as well.
Grade: A
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THE FABULOUS
BAKER BOYS
SB2K16 was social media code for a
spring break trip in April 2016, when
four young twenty-somethings
packed their golf clubs and their flip
flops and descended on Baker's Bay in
the Bahamas.
Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Justin
Thomas and Smylie Kaufman, all tour
winners, repeated their excellent ad-
venture in 2017, then ventured to
Cabo in 2018.
On the course, it's been a mixed
bag. JT has been a stud. The 2017 PGA
Champion picked right up with a W
at the CJ Cup at Nine Bridges in
Korea, drove off with the Honda Clas-
sic trophy in March, then lost a playoff
at the WGC-Mexico event. In May, he
ascended to No. 1 in the world, sup-
planting Dustin Johnson.
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