Golf Channel analysts agree that Rory McIlroy, with Grand Slam within reach, not 'immune from pressure'

Patrick Reed emerges as the Masters champ, handling the Sunday pressure to win by 1. Did the final round live up to the hype? We discuss on the latest podcast

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Patrick Reed got some laughs a few years back when he declared himself a top five player, with little on his resume to back it up.

No one is laughing now.

Reed’s breakthrough win in the Masters didn’t officially move him into the top five – he’s now No. 11 in the world – but it certainly moved him into the conversation when the debate turns to major championships.

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As well it should, after Reed handled not only the golf course but the suffocating pressure of a Sunday at the Masters to win his first major. Playing in the same group as four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, he didn’t flinch even as Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler made late runs at him.

The player known for a sometimes prickly attitude may have even won a few fans over in the process.

They cheered for McIlroy on the first tee, certain that he was going to overcome a three-shot deficit and win his first green jacket. But it was Reed who got the final cheers when he calmly sa..

AUGUSTA, Georgia (AP) After the final putt disappeared into the cup, Rickie Fowler waited outside the scoring room at Augusta National.

Once again, he was congratulating someone else on winning their first major championship.

For Fowler, the wait goes on.

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”I was ready to go win,” he said. ”Unfortunately, I was one shot short.”

This has become a familiar lament for Fowler, who lugs around the unwanted baggage as the best player without a title in one of golf’s biggest events.

He had his best chance yet on a stirring on Sunday at the Masters, making six birdies over the final 11 holes – including an 8-footer at the 72nd hole that finished off a 14-under 274.

It’s a score that would’ve been good enough to win most years.

But Patrick Reed had one less stroke on his card, claiming the green jacket by sinking a short but testy par putt at No. 18 .

”Glad I at least made the last one to make him earn it,” Fowler said.

Jordan Spieth did his part, too, to ma..

Did Golf Channel inadvertently motivate Patrick Reed to win the Masters? Sort of

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) After the final putt disappeared into the cup, Rickie Fowler waited outside the scoring room at Augusta National.

Once again, he was congratulating someone else on winning their first major championship .

For Fowler, the wait goes on.

Article continues below …

”I was ready to go win,” he said. ”Unfortunately, I was one shot short.”

This has become a familiar lament for Fowler, who now lugs around the unwanted baggage as the best player without a title in one of golf’s biggest events.

He had his best chance yet on a stirring Sunday at the Masters, making six birdies over the final 11 holes – including an 8-footer at the 72nd hole that finished off a 14-under 274 .

It’s a score that would’ve been good enough to win most years.

But Patrick Reed had one less stroke on his card, claiming the green jacket by sinking a short but testy par putt at No. 18 .

”Glad I at least made the last one to make him earn it,” Fowler said.

Jordan Spieth did his part, too, to mak..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) Patrick Reed became famous playing for his country. He won for himself on Sunday at the Masters.

Rory McIlroy came after him early. Jordan Spieth briefly tied him for the lead. Rickie Fowler birdied the last hole to leave him no room for error. Reed never flinched through it all on a raucous afternoon at Augusta National, calmly rolling in a 3-foot par putt for a 1-under 71 and a one-shot victory.

Captain America is now the Masters champion.

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Even as the loudest cheers were for everyone else, Reed earned all the respect with two big birdie putts on the back nine, one key par and plenty of grit.

The 27-year-old Texan is the fourth straight Masters champion to win his first major.

Fowler made an 8-foot birdie putt on the last for a 67 – and his third runner-up finish in a major.

Spieth put up the most unlikely fight and was on the verge of the greatest comeback in Masters history. He started nine shots behind going into the final round,..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) A glance at the key hole Sunday at the Masters:

HOLE: 18

YARDAGE: 465

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PAR: 4

STROKE AVERAGE: 4.03

RANK: 7

KEY FACTS: Patrick Reed won his first major with a testy two-putt on the final hole. Rickie Fowler put the pressure on Reed by making a birdie at No. 18. It also essentially knocked Jordan Spieth out of contention when his tee shot clipped a tree branch, dropped well short of the fairway and led to a bogey.

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For more AP golf coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Golf and https://apnews.com/tag/TheMasters

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) A look at the final round Sunday at the Masters:

WINNER: Patrick Reed, who shot a final round 71 to win by a shot at 15-under-par.

JUST BEHIND: Rickie Fowler, who birdied the 18th hole for a final round 67 that left him a shot back.

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LOW ROUND: Jordan Spieth shot an 8-under 64 that included a bogey on the final hole. He finished in third, two shots back.

WHERE’S TIGER? Tiger Woods had his best round of the tournament, shooting a 69 that put him at 1-over, tied for 32nd.

NOTEABLE: It was the first major championship win for Reed, who played college golf at nearby Augusta State.

ALSO NOTEABLE: It was the second time in seven years Rory McIlroy has come up short while playing in the final group. McIlroy shot a final round 74.

QUOTEABLE: `”Today was definitely probably the hardest mentally a round of golf could possibly be.” – Patrick Reed

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For more AP golf coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/apf-Golf and https://apnews.com/tag/TheMaster..

AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) It wasn’t the collapse from seven years earlier, far from it.

The way things unfolded for Rory McIlroy on Sunday at the Masters, though, it may end up hurting even more.

History was at stake, along with the green jacket. If McIlroy could bring it home in the final pairing with Patrick Reed he would become only the sixth man to complete the career Grand Slam, joining names that will long live in golfing lore.

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But once again McIlroy’s putter cooled off and he fell flat when it mattered most.

And once again he was left standing alongside the 18th green while another player celebrated a Masters win.

He was so close that he had a short eagle putt that could have tied him for the lead on the second hole. But after missing it he never really looked the same again.

”It wasn’t as if nerves got to me,” McIlroy insisted. ”I just didn’t quite have it.”

By the time McIlroy’s day mercifully ended, the bounce in his step was gone, replaced by a de..