Patrick Reed has revealed “I was battling for my life” when struck down by double pneumonia a fortnight ago and feared “I would not be able to say goodbye to my two children”.
The American, who said he has been vaccinated and has tested negative for Covid, spent “four or five days” in a Houston hospital and was advised by medics to expect the worse.
“They were telling me ‘make sure you text your family and talk to them, because you just don’t know – this is not good’,” he said. “It hit me just like a brick. I went from feeling okay to literally feeling like I couldn’t breathe and was almost drowning in air. It was so brutal. It was scary”
The 31-year-old was only discharged last week and was not yet cleared to fly to this week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta. So Reed made the 12-hour drive to Atlanta on Tuesday and played only nine practice holes on Wednesday.
In light of this, his opening two-over 72 was heroic despite leaving him 15 off Patrick Cantlay’s pace in the bizarre staggered scoring system at the FedEx finale. Reed admitted he is only in Georgia to try and convince US captain Steve Stricker he will be fit for this month’s Ryder Cup. Stricker names his six wildcards next week.
“The biggest thing is, talking with Stricks and stuff, is just making sure I’m healthy and I think the biggest thing for me this week is just to see kind of where I’m at,” Reed added.
“And I know by Ryder Cup my game’s going to be where it needs to be, as long as I feel like my health is where it needs to be and as long as I feel like I can sustain through rounds of golf.”