Patrick Reed (-22) has won a golf tournament again almost four years later. Specifically, since the Farmers Insurance Open of the PGA Tour held in January 2021. Reed claimed victory this Sunday at the Link Hong Kong Open, an Asian Tour event with a prize fund of 2 million dollars.
Reed laid the solid foundations for his victory this Saturday with an exceptional round of 59 strokes, the second in the history of the Asian circuit. Even so, he had to play very well today at the Hong Kong Golf Club to lift the trophy. He signed a card of 66 strokes to finish 22 under par, three less than the runner-up, New Zealander Ben Campbell (-19), the defending champion.
Campbell completed his excellent performance with 65 strokes, while Japanese Kazuki Higa signed 63 to take third place. Australian Wade Ormsby, winner here in 2017 and 2020, shared fourth place with Thai Sadom Kaewkanjana. Both scored 65 strokes. The best golfer from Hong Kong, Taichi Kho, signed a 66 to tie for sixth position, his best result of the year in an event that means so much to him.
Any concerns that Reed, who started the day with a three-stroke lead, would struggle to make another low round after yesterday’s feat, quickly dissipated with four consecutive birdies between the 3rd and 6th to gain a six-stroke lead. Moreover, he had a seven-stroke margin before finishing with two bogeys on the 15th and 18th when the victory was already in his pocket.
“There’s nothing like coming to a place I know quite well and with a golf course that I love,” said the 34-year-old Texan, who plans to play in the last two events of the season: next week’s International Series Qatar and the PIF Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, the following week.
“I love how it makes me think, you have to be creative in this place. So being able to go out and play like I did over the weekend is a joy. It always helps to have shot 59 yesterday, but most importantly, the hardest part was today. I value going out today to play and forgetting about the 59. The goal was to make a couple of birdies early on, increase the lead, and then play fairway and green on the back nine. With the birdie on the 13th, I started playing very boring golf, which led to two mistakes.”
Spaniard Eugenio López Chacarra (-14) secured a valuable fourteenth position, especially considering that on Friday he was more out than in the cut with six holes to go. The Madrid native, whose goal is to catch the attention of a LIV team that might offer him a contract for next year, finished with a good card of 66 strokes, including three birdies in the last six holes. Another comeback to finish just one stroke away from the top 10, far behind Reed and behind another LIV player like Scott Vincent. Englishman Justin Rose, winner here in 2015, signed a 67 and finished tied for 18th place with 13 under par.
