Patrick Reed’s affinity for the Greater Bay Area was evident once more today after he shot a majestic seven-under-par 63 to take the first-round lead in the International Series Macau presented by Wynn.
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Four months ago, the American claimed the Link Hong Kong Open, helped by a spectacular 59 on the third day, and he was unstoppable again today, overcoming Macau Golf and Country Club with seven birdies and no bogeys.
He leads the US $2million event, which is part of The International Series on the Asian Tour, from Filipino Miguel Tabuena, Peter Uihlein from the United States, and Finland’s Kalle Samooja, who carded 64s.
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Reed, who finished fourth here last year, birdied 16 and 18 to edge ahead later in the day. Uihlein had eagled the par-five 18th moments earlier while Tabuena led for most of the day having started at 7am.
“It was a steady day,” said Reed, a member of 4Aces GC on the LIV Golf League.
“I wasn’t feeling that great when I first got up. Mainly my body was a little tight, but it loosened up nicely on the range.
“You know, got off to good a start. Was hitting my golf ball how I wanted to. Was hitting pretty solid. I was kind of getting it out in front of me where I wanted, where I was looking, and I was leaving myself in the right spot. So, I felt like that was the biggest thing today.”
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He made a birdie on the fourth and then made three in a row from the sixth, before another came on 13. On the last his 20 footer for an eagle just finished short.
He added: “These greens got kind of really fast, and with some of those pin locations there on the back nine, you had to put the ball in the right spot, because it’s hard to putt from above the hole. And I was able to do a nice job on that. Hit a couple close and, you know, kind of had a stress free seven-under par today.”
Tabuena shook off the effects of a 3.45am wake-up call and an uncharacteristic missed one-foot putt on his first hole to set the bar early on.
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The Filipino, who made eight birdies against two bogeys, said: “Woke up at 3.45, got in the gym at 4.10. Did some stretching; did some activation stuff, yeah, but it’s routine. The game feels really good except for my three putt on the first hole, which was number 10. Missed it from a foot. So that was pretty funny. I just laughed it out.”
He rallied and made the turn in two under, with four birdies and two bogeys, before finding his rhythm on the second half with birdies on three, four, seven and eight.
“My game’s in a good spot, but it’s still very early in the tournament. There’s three more days, and hopefully I can continue this form,” he said.
“It is about playing the par fives well here. If you score on the par fires, I think you’ll do well. And you must understand where the wind is blowing, because it’s really bouncing around the mountains here, especially in the morning. I took advantage because it was pretty calm this morning.”
He is looking for his first win on the Asian Tour since The DGC Open presented by Mastercard in 2023. He’s had seven top fives since then so a win may well be just around the corner.
Uihlein, who won twice on the Asian Tour last year at International Series events in England and Qatar, struck a six-iron from well over 200 yards on the 18th to a matter of inches from the cup. Samooja also made a three there.
“Played super well, despite coming off a slight strain on my hand since last week. It helped by resting it,” said the American.
“I am just very relaxed out here, trying to enjoy it and we’ll see where that takes us.”
Spain’s Sergio Garcia, winner of LIV Golf Hong Kong two weeks ago, fired a 65 and is in a group of seven players next best placed.
Defending champion John Catlin from the United States, returned a disappointing 72 but did will to recover as he was four over after five.
