GREENSBORO, N.C. — Patrick Reed made a 7-footer for birdie putt on the second playoff hole to beat Jordan Spieth and win the Wyndham Championship.
Reed recovered from a drive on the par-4 10th that came a few feet from going out of bounds and stopped in some pine needles in the woods near a television cable.
Reed pulled out his 7-iron, uncorked a baseball swing from an uphill lie and sent the ball under a tree branch — yet away from the tree trunk — to land his second shot 7 feet from the pin.
“It was the best shot of my life, that’s for sure,” Reed said.
Spieth, who called it “one of the best shots I’ve ever witnessed,” had reached the green in two strokes, but his 10-foot birdie putt trickled wide of the cup.
Reed then sank his short birdie putt that “felt like it was 40” feet to end it.
The victory was the first of Reed’s career and came in just his 38th start on the PGA Tour. With the victory, the 23-year-old moved from 78th to 22nd in the FedExCup standings on the eve of next week’s Playoffs.
“Just to get my first win means everything to me,” Reed said.
The 20-year-old Spieth won his first PGA Tour event last month in a playoff at the John Deere Classic. He was looking to become the youngest two-time winner in Tour history. He moved from 16th to eighth in the FedExCup with the runner-up finish.
Final Leaderboard; Patrick Reed 65-64-71-66—266 (-14) – Won in Playoff; Jordan Spieth 65-66-70-65—266 (-14); John Huh 68-62-70-68—268 (-12); Brian Harman 67-66-69-66—268 (-12).
Patrick Reed defeated Jordan Spieth with a birdie-3 on the second extra hole (No. 10). On the first playoff hole (No. 18), Spieth drained a putt from 26 feet to save par and force a second hole. Reed had a chance to win on the first playoff hole from just over 7-feet.
FedExCup Playoffs Bubble Notes
No one moved in or dropped out of the top 125 in the FedExCup standings this week at the Wyndham Championship. It is the first time in the seven years of the FedExCup that at least one player has not used the Wyndham Championship to move inside the top 125.
Web.com Tour Finals Bubble Notes
Andres Gonzales (No. 198) and Jin Park (No. 189) are the only players not otherwise eligible who played their way into the top 200 (Nos. 126-200) in the FedExCup standings. Players ranked Nos. 126-200 will be eligible for the Web.com Tour Finals. Park entered the week No. 202 and Gonzales was No. 238. Gonzales finished T8 at the Wyndham Championship to top 10 into the Frys.com Open and Jin Park finished T20 in Greensboro. Joey Snyder and Steve Marino dropped out of the top 200.
Patrick Reed
–Earns first career PGA Tour victory at the age of 23 years, 13 days in his 38th start.
–Moves to No. 22 in the FedExCup standings. Entered the week No. 78 in the FedExCup.
–Birthdate: August 5, 1990
–Birthplace/Resides: San Antonio, Texas/Spring, Texas
–Family: Wife, Justine
–Height/Weight: 6’0/200
–College: Augusta State University
–Turned Pro/Joined Tour: 2011/2013
–Is the first player to win on Tour with his wife (Justine) as a caddie since Steve Stricker won the 1996 BMW Championship with his wife Nicki caddying. Stricker’s first Tour win came at the 1996 Kemper Open with his wife caddying.
–Joins Vaughn Taylor as the only Augusta State University product to win on the PGA Tour.
–Reed is the 12th first-time winner on Tour this season and first since Jordan Spieth at the John Deere Classic. The most in a year since 1970 is 18 first-time winners in 2002.
–Improves to 1-0 when holding the third-round lead/co-lead on To;ur. Reed entered the final round of the Wyndham Championship tied with John Huh at 10-under 200. His only previous leads after any round on the PGA Tour were following round two of the John Deere Classic, (finished T7) and following the second-round this week at the Wyndham Championship.
–Reed made his 23rd start of the season, and 38th of his career. As one of three starts in 2011, Reed finished T66 via a sponsor invitation at the Wyndham Championship, his only previous start here.
–In 2012, Reed successfully Monday-qualified for half of the 12 PGA Tour events in which he started. He made the cut in five of the six, posting top-35 finishes in four (Zurich Classic of New Orleans/T24, Wells Fargo Championship/T32, True South Classic/T21, Shriners Hospitals for Children Open/T22).
–Reed comes to the PGA Tour in 2013 by virtue of his T22 finish at the 2012 PGA TOUR Qualifying Tournament.
–Reed’s best finish in 37 previous starts on Tour was fifth at the 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic.
–Seve Ballesteros remains the youngest winner of the Wyndham Championship, winning his first tournament in the U.S. at the 1978 Wyndham Championship at the age of 20 years, 11 months and 24 days.
Jordan Spieth
–Moves to No. 8 in the FedExCup standings. Entered the week No. 16 in the FedExCup.
–Spieth drops to 1-1 in playoffs on Tour: 2013 John Deere Classic/Won, 2013 Wyndham Championship/Lost
–Last month rookie Jordan Spieth claimed his first PGA Tour win at the age of 19 years, 11 months and 18 days in his 24th career start on the PGA Tour, his 16th as a professional. Spieth is the youngest player to win on Tour since Ralph Guldahl won the 1931 Santa Monica Open at the age of 19 years, 2 months and 4 days. The Santa Monica Open, played at Riviera Country Club, has also been referred to as the Motion Picture Tournament.
–Spieth (No. 8) and Russell Henley (No. 24) are the only rookies inside the top 30 in the FedExCup standings in this week’s field. Henley did not play this week.
–Spieth played in the AJGA FJ Invitational at Sedgefield at the ages of 14 and 15 in 2008 (T6) and 2009 (4th).
–Spieth, who turned 20 on July 27th, is coming off a missed cut at last week’s PGA Championship.
–Spieth was trying to become the youngest two-time winner in Tour history (since 1900).
FedExCup Notes
–As the final event in the PGA Tour Season, the Wyndham Championship plays a pivotal role in the race to the FedExCup Playoffs. The event offers the final opportunity for players to improve their FedExCup positions heading into the Playoffs, or in some instances, move into the top 125 in the FedExCup standings and qualify for the first Playoff event, The Barclays.
–Three of the six FedExCup champions competed in the Wyndham Championship the year they won their FedExCup title: Vijay Singh (2008), Bill Haas (2011) and Brandt Snedeker (2012). Singh, who missed the cut at Sedgefield, will not see Playoff action for the first time since its 2007 inception.
–No player outside the Playoffs bubble entering the Wyndham Championship has successfully negotiated his way to the Tour Championship.
–The following eight players will miss the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time in their career: David Toms (T16), Padraig Harrington (MC), Chad Campbell (MC), Vijay Singh (MC), Jonathan Byrd (MC), Troy Matteson (MC), Sean O’Hair (MC) and Robert Allenby (MC).
Miscellaneous Notes
–John Huh finished T3 in his second start at the Wyndham Championship. He is coming off four straight missed cuts. His only other top-10 finish this season is a T8 at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. Huh came into this week’s Wyndham Championship ranked 91st in FedExCup standings and moves to No. 59. In his rookie year last year, Huh made it through all four Playoff events.
–Davis Love III missed the cut this week breaking a streak of 27 consecutive years inside the top 100 on the Tour money list. However, Love tied Jay Haas for most consecutive seasons winning $100,000 or more with 28. Love also increases his record of most consecutive seasons winning $200,000 or more to 25 years.
–Defending champion Sergio Garcia finished T29 in his fourth start at the Wyndham Championship.
–David Toms (T16) will miss the FedExCup Playoffs for the first time, but retains his Tour card for 2013-2014 after finishing inside the top 125 on the money list (No. 122). Toms shot a final round 62 with two eagles to move into the top 125.
–Brian Harman (T3) notches his second top 10 of the season, both coming in the state of North Carolina. He finished T10 at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte.
–Bob Estes (T8) made his 628th PGA Tour start this week, which is T44 (Kenny Perry) for the most career starts in Tour history. Dave Eichelberger leads with
813 career starts on Tour. Estes records his 90th career top 10 on Tour. He has at least one top 10 each year on Tour since 1989.
–Zach Johnson (T5) notches his career-best fifth consecutive top-10 finish: John Deere Classic (P2), The Open Championship (T6), World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational (T4), PGA Championship (T8) and Wyndham Championship (T5). Johnson is made his third start at the Wyndham Championship: 2008 (T26), 2004 (61st). His start in 2008 came at Sedgefield Country Club, finishing with rounds of 66-70-69-64. He will take off next week at The Barclays for his brother’s wedding in Chicago.
–Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama (15th) will earn his PGA Tour card for 2013-14 after finishing in the top 125 of the money list as a non-member. He has $771,640 in official money, which is well ahead of No. 125 Greg Chalmers ($595,483).
–Seven past champions of the Wyndham Championship are in this week’s field: Webb Simpson/2011 (T11), Sergio Garcia/2012 (T29), K.J. Choi/2005 (T37), Arjun Atwal/2010 (71), Carl Pettersson/2008 (MC), Brandt Snedeker/2007 (MC) and Davis Love III/1992, 2006 (MC).
–Since making a return to Sedgefield Country Club in 2008, the third-round leader/co-leader has gone on to win all but one time. In 2009, Ryan Moore entered the final round at T9 and trailing Sergio Garcia and Chris Riley by four strokes. A final-round 65 led to an eventual playoff victory over Jason Bohn and Kevin Stadler. This year, Reed was tied for the third-round lead with John Huh.
–Since 1950, 37 Wyndham Championship winners have either held or shared the third-round lead, including 13 of the last 15 winners (dating to 1999).
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