Q. Clean card and you seem to, you're shaking your head with a clean card, so I'll be interested in your response to that. Clean card as far as no bogeys, four birdies, closing eagle. So tell me how you feel about your round and why you shook your head like that.
PATRICK REED: It was close. It's kind of one of those days I left, felt like I left a lot of shots out there, a lot of little short irons and kind of soft shots that kind of got me. Normally those are ones that are kind of bread and butter for me. I kind of go and hit tight. And I had a couple ride the face on, a couple of lobbies, and then on top of that, had a couple short irons I was just trying to hit softies that kind of got away from me.
But as a whole, I mean, if you were to tell me signing up for a 6-under at the start of the week, anyone would probably take it. So I put myself in position that's all I really could ask for.
Q. You seem to be, especially here, to be it's not how you start, it's how you finish on this golf course, and you always seem to finish well here. What is it about this golf course that brings out the best in Patrick Reed?
PATRICK REED: I think the thing is you have all these awkward lies, heavy winds, huge elevation changes, so you have to be creative. You can't just step up there and make a driving range swing because you never really have a flat lie besides off the tee boxes. So that being said, it just kind of gets me more engaged and allows me to see certain shots and allows me to play a certain type of golf shot rather than just sit there and try to play swing.
So for me it brings the creativity out and we kind of go out and see shots, hit shots.
Q. The folks see a different look for Patrick Reed here in 2021. It looks good, the new Titleist hat and new clothing.
PATRICK REED: Thank you, appreciate it.
Q. New year, same results for Patrick Reed, who comes out and plays well here on the Plantation Course, including going 3-under in your final two holes. What did you excel at today?
PATRICK REED: I think the biggest thing was putting the ball in the fairway. Even though I missed, technically missed the fairway on 1, I felt like I hit a great drive, just kind of rolled through down at the bottom of the hill.
But then after that, I didn't miss a fairway, so I was able to play from the short grass all day. And I felt like when I had an opportunity to capitalize, whether it was an iron shot or a putt on the greens, I was able to do it. I think that was the biggest thing. The wind started to pick up there from about hole 9 to about 14, and you kind of had to pay attention and try to stay in it. But beside that, we had scoring conditions today. The wind was down compared to how it normally is over here and you had to go out and shoot a low one.
Q. You made a coaching switch after the U.S. Open, moving to David Leadbetter and the work seems to be paying off in results. In four starts all inside the top-15, couple of third place finishes. What have you elevated in your game working with Leadbetter?
PATRICK REED: I think the biggest thing is just clarity. I know now where the swing needs to be and how to get it there, and then knowing what causes certain misses. When the ball goes left, I know now what makes that happen and what goes right. Same thing.
So that being said, whenever you know those misses and know what to, what that is, you're able to fix it on the golf course. And at the same time, with that being said, you don't have to lean too much on the short game. I think that's the biggest thing is we're able to get the ball striking a little bit tighter, where now I don't have to always seem to have to lean on my short game to bail me out or get me out of trouble.
Q. How would you assess your round today?
PATRICK REED: It was close. It was kind of one of those days that I felt like from tee to green it was relatively pretty solid. Hit some good tee shots. I felt like I left some putts out there and a couple of the kind of my bread and butter, which is those kind of softy, kind of short irons and wedges. I didn't really hit them that close.
And on top of it, I had some of them that I actually missed the green on. And with that being said, just kind of stuff like that that I need to tidy up. The good thing is I know what it is and I know how close it is, I just need to go hit a couple balls here to get a certain feel down and should be good to go.
Q. When you get out there on this golf course, you've had a great number of success, obviously winning here as well. Do you feel comfortable out there and you know that like -- I mean, today you said you just, you played well, but didn't play maybe as well as you want to and there you are at 6-under par.
PATRICK REED: Yeah, you know, it's kind of one of these golf courses that there's not really stretches out here that are, I would say, tough. Like, normally when you play other golf courses you might have a three or four hole stretch there that's a tough stretch that you're like, all right, if I shoot even or 1-under, it's a great stretch.
It seems like here you might have a hole in a row. Like, No. 1 is down wind. You know, 1's not too bad. But then you've got 2's a long par-3, but then after that you seem like, 2 and 3 kind of hold on and then you can kind of attack the golf course through 7 and kind of hold on at 8. Then you can get back on and start attacking again, especially with the greens being a little softer this year.
So I feel like you have a lot of green lights out there, especially if you're hitting your driver well, because then you're playing from the short grass, you're kind of able to see what's out in front of you. And I think the biggest thing for me why I'm so comfortable is you get to hit all different kind of shots. You never seem to have a flat lie besides from on the tee boxes. And so that being said, when you add the wind and the big slopes and the undulating kind of stances and lies you're going to have, you can't just step up and make driving range swings. You have to create golf shots and hit shots. I think that's the biggest thing for me.
Q. Where would you say your confidence in your game is right now?
PATRICK REED: I think it's up there. Even like a day like today I feel like I left a lot out there. But I feel really good how the game is. I mean, I think the biggest thing for me, especially after the switch and everything is that now I know what causes what. So when I start seeing certain patterns, I start hitting certain shots I know what caused that, so I know what to fix. I think that's the biggest thing is it's impossible to play perfect golf year-in year-out, week-in and week-out and that being said, you need to be able to adjust and adapt. And I feel like now, knowing what the swing's supposed to do, what the feels are supposed to be, I'm able to do that, not just round to round, but literally in the middle of rounds.
Q. Was it weird to change your swing when you did? I mean right after the U.S. Open and maybe a little bit of a lull for you but technically you're in the middle of a season.
PATRICK REED: Let's be honest, there's never a good time to change, but for me we felt like that was the right time for us. Because once I get done with the East Lake the PGA TOUR season is over, that's when playoffs seem to come up for the European Tour. So for me there's really no real long off season where I can make a change.
And I felt like that was the right time, kind of right after U.S. Open, and it seemed to pay off pretty well and just kind of one of those things that I knew something had to change, something needed to be addressed and we were able to do that and kind of get on top of it early and I feel like now we're on the right track.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports