Patrick Reed was able to hold off final-round surges from Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler to win the 2018 Masters Tournament.
After he finished his third round with a 7-under 65 to pull within four strokes of Reed, Rory McIlroy said all the pressure was on the 27-year-old Reed come Sunday afternoon. But Reed handled that pressure fantastically Sunday to win his first major championship.
Spieth came one shot shy of tying the course record at Augusta National, but that wasn’t enough to defeat Reed, who finished the tournament 15 under par — the third-lowest winning score in the last 10 years at the Masters.
Reed didn’t have his best day, but every time he bogeyed, he was able to bounce back and respond with a birdie. The biggest putt of the tournament came after he bogeyed the par-4 11th hole. Reed was faced with a long birdie putt on the famous par-3 12th hole and was able to sink it to move back to 14-under par. Reed would follow that up with another birdie on the 15th to move to 15-under, and that would prove to be enough for the win.
Fowler and Jon Rahm made late charges, but it was Fowler’s birdie on the 18th to move within one shot of the lead that put the pressure on Reed. Needing a par to hold off Fowler, Reed was able to two-putt for par to win his first green jacket.
This is the fourth straight year the Masters victory was the winner's first major win — the same is true of Sergio Garcia last year, Danny Willett in 2016 and Spieth in 2015.
Here's what the leaderboard looked like after the final round:
1. Patrick Reed (-15)
2. Rickie Fowler (-14)
3. Jordan Spieth (-13)
4. Jon Rahm (-11)
T5. Cameron Smith (-9)
T5. Bubba Watson (-9)
T5. Henrik Stenson (-9)
T5. Rory McIlroy (-9)
9. Marc Leishman (-8)
T10. Dustin Johnson (-7)
T10. Tony Finau (-7)
