AUGUSTA, Ga. – It’s hard to escape the opening-tee jitters at the Masters, even if you’re the defending champ.
Patrick Reed has enjoyed a celebratory return this week to Augusta National, the toast of the Champions’ Dinner Tuesday night following his one-shot victory a year ago. But as he officially got his title defense underway Thursday he was feeling a little bit of unexpected emotion, choosing a 3-wood for his opening shot to stay short of the fairway bunker but finding it on one hop anyway.
“I was more nervous than I expected, coming back and defending it.