AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Patrick Reed was so consumed with a putter that went cold during the Masters that he might not have contemplated where his third-place finish could lead.
He moved up to No. 49 in the world ranking, which at the very least assures a spot in the PGA Championship next month if he wasn't in already. And the PGA Championship gives him another chance to accrue ranking points, something he can't get with LIV Golf.
The PGA Championship, to be played May 15-18 at Quail Hollow, is the final week before the U.S. Open exempts the top 60 in the world. It doesn't take much for Reed to move up because his divisor in the formula is at the minimum 40.
Reed did not make it to the U.S. Open last year, ending his streak of 41 consecutive majors.
The British Open take the top 50 on the same May 18 cutoff, though Reed already is eligible from being among the leading three players in the International Series Macau on the Asian Tour, which was part of the qualifying series.
Reed now has four top 10s in the five tournaments he has played outside LIV Golf this year. He tied for 10th in Dubai and tied for eighth in Ras Al Khaimah on the European Tour. He was a runner-up in Macau and finished third at the Masters.
Reed ended last year at No. 128.
It was a strong finish at the Masters, though he wasn't happy from the opening round. Few players were more blunt assessing their performance. Reed opened with a 71.
“Piss poor, pretty simple,” he said. “Hit it fine, missed it in the wrong spots, and putted like a blind man.”
He didn't change his tune when he finished at 9-under 279, two shots out of the playoff.
“The putter killed me, killed me this week,” he said. “Really lost my opportunity to win a green jacket because of the putter.”
On to Quail Hollow, with a detour to Mexico City (April 25-27) and South Korea (May 2-4) for LIV Golf before the PGA Championship.
Ratings boost
Rory McIlroy delivered quite a show Sunday in the Masters with his collapse, recovery, bogey on the 18th hole and eventually playoff victory over Justin Rose to win the green jacket and complete the career Grand Slam.
It was a big day for CBS Sports, too. The network said it averaged 12.707 million viewers, a 33% increase from last year and the most for the Masters since Patrick Reed won in 2018.
Viewership peaked at 19.543 million between 7 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. during the playoff.
Tiger Woods winning in 2019 after overcoming four back surgeries drew 10.8 million viewers, but that was largely attributed to the Masters finishing in the early afternoon because starting times moved up to avoid storms that never arrived.
Slow play tests
The PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour will allow distance-measuring devices for the next month to see it has a positive impact on pace of play.
Players can use the devices, better known as range finders, for six tournaments over the next four weeks on the PGA Tour until the PGA Championship, which already allows for them. The Korn Ferry Tour will allow them for the next three tournaments.
The other pace-of-play trial will be on the Korn Ferry Tour only and relates to penalties.
Previously, players put on the clock for being out of position were given a warning, and they were assessed a one-shot penalty on their second bad time. Under the revised policy for the Korn Ferry Tour, they would get a penalty stroke on the first bad time after the warning.
The revised policy will be effective the rest of the Korn Ferry Tour season.
Depending on what the results reveal, the revised penalty policy could reach the PGA Tour as early as 2026.
Still to come from the “Speed of Play” working group is publishing pace-of-play data to media outlets. The tour said the group is still developing that recommendation.
Calendar man
With his Masters victory, Rory McIlroy now has won an individual title in every month of the calendar. He won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans last year with Shane Lowry.
Among his 40 victories worldwide, McIlroy won the Dubai Desert Classic in January, the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February, The Players Championship in March and the Masters in April. He won the Wells Fargo Championship in May, the U.S. Open in June, the British Open in July and the PGA Championship in August.
He has won the Tour Championship in September, the CJ Cup in October, the DP World Tour Championship in November and the Australian Open in December.
Bryson’s plaque
Bryson DeChambeau didn’t get the Masters green jacket. He had to settle for a plaque at Pinehurst No. 2, which was unveiled Monday a day after DeChambeau shot 75 on the final day at Augusta National and tied for fifth.
DeChambeau went over to Pinehurst No. 2 for the unveiling of the plaque that commemorates his bunker shot to 4 feet for par on the 18th hole that sealed his one-shot victory over Rory McIlroy in last year’s U.S. Open.
The plaque next to the bunker includes the date with a quote from DeChambeau: “The shot of my life.”
Meanwhile, he is one of a record 10,202 entries accepted by the USGA for the U.S. Open this year at Oakmont on June 12-15. It’s the fourth time in championship history the USGA has accepted more than 10,000 applications to play.
The previous record was 10,187 entries for the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.
DeChambeau is among 50 players exempt from the two stages of U.S. Open qualifying. U.S. Open champions get a 10-year exemption.
Local qualifying starts Wednesday through May 19 at 110 courses in 43 states, Canada and Mexico. Three final qualifying sites will be May 19 in England, Japan and Texas, with the majority of final qualifying on June 2 after the Memorial.
Beck Patrick, 13, was the youngest entrant. The oldest is 73-year-old Mac O’Grady, who last played the U.S. Open in 1989.
Divots
U.S. Solheim Cup Captain Angela Stanford has appointed Kristy McPherson as one of her assistants for the 2026 matches in the Netherlands. ... Xander Schauffele now has gone three full years without missing a cut. His last missed cut was at the 2022 Masters. ... The last four Masters champions have been among the top three in the world ranking. ... Scottie Scheffler has shot par or better in 22 of the 24 rounds he has played at the Masters. ... Golf is one of six sports that will add a mixed-gender competition for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. It will be the first team golf event in the Olympics since 1904, which featured 10-man teams.
Stat of the week
Justin Rose has had at least a share of the lead after 12 rounds at the Masters, which ranks fourth behind Jack Nicklaus (19), Arnold Palmer (18) and Gary Player (12). That includes the two times Rose lost in a playoff.
Final word
“I don’t know what level Phil is competing at. I guess he’s still playing. He’s playing the LIV Tour, is he? I don’t know if he’s playing or not. I don’t know, you never see that anymore.” — Jack Nicklaus.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
