Through nine holes, Patrick Reed was one of the few golfers under par at Shinnecock Hills. The back nine, however, hasn’t treated the 2018 Masters champ as well.
Reed made the turn on Day 1 at the U.S. Open and promptly double bogeyed No. 10. A few holes later, he bogeyed No. 14 and hit one of the all-time hosel rockets.
In both cases, Shinnecock’s rough, sorry, FESCUE was to blame. And if you’re a Patrick Reed fan or you bet on him this week (hand up), you might want to look away:
The fescue at Shinnecock is no joke. pic.twitter.com/MO3da2zCvZ
— U.S. Open (@usopengolf) June 18, 2026
That is just an unreal shank. In fact, it’s so bad, it’s almost like a reverse shank as the ball goes dead left. And back into more fescue. Here’s how it looked on the USGA’s shot tracker:
Hats off to Pat for even salvaging a bogey here. But let this be a lesson to the rest of the field, especially those who have yet to tee off thanks to the early fog delay: Do NOT mess with Shinnecock’s fescue.
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