Like most high-end golf venues, Hazeltine National features a nice dining room.
So it will be awkward when, at the 2029 Ryder Cup, the course welcomes the return of Captain America by hiding the expensive silverware.
Patrick Reed made himself an American hero, or at least a hero to American golf fans, by outdueling Rory McIlroy and leading the United States to a Ryder Cup victory at Hazeltine in 2016. Reed's performance laundered his reputation, but laundry stays clean only for so long.
This weekend, Reed, the 2018 Masters champion, won another big event, the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in San Diego. Again, he stared down McIlroy, but this time he provided a more clear reminder of the reputation that has followed him since college.
At the University of Georgia, he got kicked off the team for twice being arrested on charges of public intoxication.
In his book "Slaying The Tiger: A Year Inside The Ropes on the New PGA Tour," author Shane Ryan wrote that teammates of Reed at Georgia accused him of playing the wrong ball, one in a more favorable position than his own, during a qualifying tournament, and that Reed pleaded ignorance when confronted.
Ryan also reported that valuables and cash were stolen from the team locker room and that the next day Reed showed up with an unusual amount of cash. After a teammate confronted him, Ryan reported, Reed said he won the money from a professor in a golf match. The professor denied this, according to Ryan.
In 2019, at the World Hero Open, Reed was criticized for improving his lie in a waste area while dragging his club back from the ball during practice swings. He was penalized two strokes but maintained his innocence.
