– Patrick Reed (-16) has won the Qatar Masters with authority, with a final card of 70 strokes, more than enough to secure victory with a two-stroke lead over his closest pursuer, Calum Hill (-14). First, second (falling in a play-off) and first. This is the series of the last three weeks for the Texan in Dubai, Bahrain, and Qatar. Unquestionable. With this triumph, he has virtually secured his PGA Tour card for 2027 through the European circuit. In other words: even if he missed all the cuts and didn’t score another point in the Race to Dubai all year, it would be normal for him to still grab one of the ten PGA Tour cards that will be distributed in November, based on what was needed in 2025 to achieve this goal.
It would be interesting to know what Reed said to himself during the 150-metre walk that separates the green of the 9th hole from the tee of the 10th hole at the Doha Golf Club…
During the first half of the Qatari course, he had given some opportunities. He had spiced up the tournament with unexpected errors, considering it was him: he missed the birdie on the 1st hole, failed a rather short par putt on the 2nd, another even shorter on the 6th, and didn’t sink any mid-range putts, one of his specialties on these fast greens. Perhaps he said something like this leaving the 9th green: “the joke ends here”. Of course, it’s just a manner of speaking. But the fact is that from that moment on, his game was not going to give anyone any chance. Players like Reed, which is where we wanted to get to, do manage to raise the level of their game when the tension really starts to build, in the last nine on Sunday. The American scored 33 strokes on the second half of the course and only two of them, being generous, were more or less faulty. The tee shot on the 13th hole, par 3, where a small miscalculation led him to the back bunker; and a little chip on the 16th, where he overcomplicated things and ended up a bit short, considering that in that position he surely leaves it less than two metres from the hole 99 times out of a hundred attempts… And that’s it. The other 31 strokes can be categorised as follows: they were excellent, very good, just good, or simply practical (that is: just what needed to be done at that moment). A high-level golfer who masters the game of golf with expertise: outstanding in strategy, impeccable reading of the conditions, the rough, the greens, also good reading of the tournament, of what is needed at each moment… Don’t be mistaken, not all top-level professionals can say the same. He is very good and also very experienced. He is well-practised and has as many hours of flight as anyone.
Reed felt he needed a change of pace in his career, left LIV Golf and immediately the results have confirmed the wisdom of his decision. He may not make the same money winning every week on the DP World Tour as he did in the Saudi league, but these three weeks in the Middle Eastern desert have been worth it…
– While the Texan was slow to get going with the three birdies he signed on holes 10, 11, and 14, a true pack of strong contenders never really formed. Oliver Lindell (-12) reached the lead and even shored it up with a two-stroke advantage, but the plan quickly fell apart with bogeys on holes 12 and 13 and a double bogey on the 15th; Jacob Skov Olesen, Reed’s partner in the star match, threatened but didn’t deliver; Calum Hill (-14) and Johannes Veerman (-13) made very serious comebacks on the back nine, but they came from far behind; Daniel Hillier (-8) had almost given up in the early stages of the round… And Ángel Ayora (-12)?
– The young Spaniard started with a birdie on the 1st hole, but quickly fell out of the equation with bogeys on holes 2 and 3 after missing rather short putts and never really got close again. He never completely disappeared, it’s true, but he also never really positioned himself as a clear alternative or strung together decisive actions that would truly propel him. He could still have fought for an excellent second place, especially after signing a spectacular birdie on the 15th hole, the most difficult on the course, but…
– The young Andalusian still has some steps to take in honing his competitive instinct. Nothing unusual or strange about that. He showed up on Saturday and Sunday in the last matches of the tournament, but to win usually requires something more. Something more that usually involves more reliably overcoming delicate moments and, above all, squeezing every last drop out of the good ones. There’s no more mystery to it. Be that as it may, he is once again in the spotlight and demanding all the attention. It wouldn’t even be fair to conclude, let’s be serious, that Ángel is cooking slowly. Just a little more patience is needed (starting with him, surely).
