Mel Reid was probably going to crack a cold one at some point Sunday. But until she carded a 6-under-par 66 in the final round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, it was going to come out of frustration rather than celebration.
The 31-year-old Brit was only one shot out of the lead as darkness fell on Hazeltine National after a 69 in Thursday's opening round. She backed it up with an error-filled, 36-putt, 4-over 76 on Friday and shot 1 under on Saturday to begin Sunday's round at even par.
She arrived on property with a bold number dancing in her head throughout her warm-up session on the driving range and practice green.
"I was determined to get to 6," Reid said.
Two early hiccups — including a "stupid" bogey on No. 3 — put that number in jeopardy. But Reid made seven birdies the rest of the way to reach her lofty goal.
Reid put a bow on the effort with a 30-foot birdie putt on No. 18, one of only seven there all afternoon, that gave her the clubhouse lead. Her 66 was the best round by any player in all four rounds, until Nasa Hataoka finished with a 65 not long after.
Reid, who tied for 39th last week in Michigan but before that had missed three consecutive cuts and not finished better than tied for 50th this season, peeked at the leaderboard after she signed her card. At the time, Hannah Green was only two shots ahead of Reid's 6 under.
"I won't quite have a couple beers yet," Reid said. "I'll just hang out for the next hour or so, and then I'll have a full load."