OAKMONT, Pa. — With two swings on a 621-yard hole Thursday at Oakmont Country Club, Patrick Reed made history with the fourth albatross on record at a U.S. Open.
Reed leapt into contention early in his first round, but that three-shot hole was essentially erased when he closed the day with a triple bogey.
Reed, prickly after his round ended with a thud, did not have much to share about his albatross.
“One hole doesn’t mean jack, to be honest with you,” Reed said. “It was a 3-wood I hit from 287 (yards), and it went in.”
At the par-5 fourth hole, Reed’s drive settled on the left side of the fairway, next to Oakmont’s famed “church pews” bunker.
Reed took aim at the green with his second shot. His ball landed near the front of the putting surface, took three hops and settled onto its path, veering slightly left toward the pin. His ball entered the left side of the cup and settled into the hole.
Reed, 34, did not know initially that he holed the shot. He motioned to a spotter to ask if the shot had gone in, then raised two fingers.
It was the first albatross at a U.S. Open since Nick Watney had one in 2012. The USGA has tracked the 3-under-par shots since 1983.
The shot boosted Reed from 1 over to 2 under par early in his round. But as he said at night’s end, there are 71 other holes to play over the course of a championship.
Reed finished the front nine in 1-under 34, and he bounced back from two bogeys on the back nine with a birdie at the short par-4 17th. But No. 18 was a disaster, as he could barely advance his second shot out of the rough, needed five strokes to get to the green and two-putted for the triple.
“I need to clean up that, and obviously put myself in a bad spot there on 18 and tried to do the smart play, and I couldn’t even get it out of there,” Reed said. “Yeah, it’s just one of those, it’s frustrating as ever to go and do what you did on the last, but yeah, I mean, hopefully go out, hit some fairways tomorrow — I played the hard holes except for 18 well. Made the easy holes a mess.”
That said, Reed knew he was still alive in the championship — he’s tied for 49th, above the would-be cut line — and he could appreciate the rare feat he pulled off at No. 4.
“Oh, it’s awesome. That’s great. But I mean, it’s kind of one of those things that after you finish with a triple, that’s really the last thing you’re really thinking about,” he said.
Reed is best known for winning the 2018 Masters. He joined LIV Golf in 2022 and has yet to win an event in that league.
–Adam Zielonka, Field Level Media
