When the pairings came out for the third round at the Farmers Insurance Open on Friday night, there was one that stuck out to golf fans more than the others.
The 8:10 a.m. group at Torrey Pines placed Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed — along with John Chin — in their first competitive pairing since the controversial aftermath of last year’s Ryder Cup.
Sensing the moment, Spieth walked to the first tee with a slight smile on his face before giving Reed’s caddie, Kessler Karain, a fist-bump and turning to his former Ryder Cup partner and extending an arm.
“I laughed. I think he did, too,” Spieth said, according to GolfChannel.com’s Rex Hoggard. “It was more kind of sarcasm towards (the media). That was kind of, just, we knew the cameras were on and we knew people were interested in that, so I just thought it would be kind of funny.”
Reed Rips Furyk, Spieth For Pairing Decisions
The riff between the two was ignited in the aftermath of the two new-age Ryder Cup stalwarts being split up at the biennial matches in Paris last fall. Spieth found success alongside his new partner, Justin Thomas, while Reed less so alongside Tiger Woods.
Following the completion of the matches, Reed lobbed a couple of grenades in subsequent interviews.
“The issue’s obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me,” Reed told The New York Times. “I don’t have any issue with Jordan. When it comes right down to it, I don’t care if I like the person I’m paired with or if the person likes me as long as it works and it sets up the team for success. He and I know how to make each other better. We know how to get the job done.”
However, as two of the most talented and prominent players on the PGA Tour, their paths would inevitably cross again not too long after Paris, and they did in the early-going of this season.
Reed said he and Spieth spoke at the Sony Open in Hawaii as well as earlier in the week at Torrey Pines, but the first tee embrace was their first public display of progress since the Ryder Cup.
Whether that’s enough to get the band back together this year at the Presidents Cup, or in other future team events, remains to be seen, but the moving on process appears well underway.
