Once again, Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth brought out the best in each other.
Reed sank a 16-foot eagle putt on the final hole to shoot 8-under-par 65 and take a one-stroke lead over Spieth, No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings, after one round of the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on a perfect day on the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.
“We are both huge competitors and we enjoy each other’s company,” said defending champion Reed, No. 10 in the world, who played alongside Spieth, his teammate in the 2014 Ryder Cup when they posted a 2-0-1 record in doubles events at Gleneagles in Scotland. “We’ve played a lot of golf together.
” … Any time you have the lead, you’re happy. I played well all day, but I didn’t make any putts on the front nine. That changed after I had an easy two-putt (for birdie) on the ninth hole. It was nice to have some kick-ins on the holes coming in.”
Reed played the last six holes in 6-under, making four birdies in five holes before hitting a brilliant second shot from 309 yards to set up his closing eagle.
Spieth, who won five times last year including the Masters and U.S. Open, finished his bogey-free 66 with a five-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
“It was nice to get out there today (when it counted) after playing this course for six days,” said Spieth, who got to Kapalua a week early. “This is as easy as this course can play and you could attack the pins. If I can do this for four days, I’ll be in business.
“I seems (he and Reed) just play well together. Maybe we just want to beat each other so badly that it brings out the best in us. I just want to keep this going.”
Brandt Snedeker posted three birdies on each nine and shot 67 to tie for third with J.B. Holmes, who carded four birdies in a row on the back nine, and Danny Lee of New Zealand, who made the last of his six birdies on the 18th hole.
Fabian Gomez of Argentina birdied four of the first five holes en route to a 68 that left him solo third, while Rickie Fowler of Murrieta shot 69 and was tied for seventh with Bubba Watson, Kevin Kisner, Brooks Koepka and Steven Bowditch of Australia.
Padraig Harrington of Ireland, playing in the Hyundai TOC for the first time, posted a 70 and was tied for 12th with Smylie Kaufman, Chris Kirk, Matt Every, Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker and Jason Day of Australia, the PGA champion.
