Patrick Reed believes opening 70 could have been lower

Patrick Reed was pleased with his opening-round 70, but he will be the first to admit it could have been better.

Reed, who helped Augusta State University win two national championships, missed makeable birdie putts on the final two holes and fell victim to a bad break on No. 7.

“I was pleased with the number, but at the same time I feel like I left a lot of shots out there,” Reed said. “I hit a great drive on 7 but it actually clipped a tree only 200 yards off the tee box. Not only does it clip the tree, but ends up against the collar. … I had to hit a cut out of the collar and ended up making bogey.”

Reed said his iron play was “solid” Thursday but admitted to needing more consistency off the tee. Overall, he hit nine of 14 fairways.

“I hit some really crooked drives that left me in bad spots,” Reed said. “Around here, you can’t get your driver going sideways, and unfortunately I had three or four that put me in a position where I couldn’t even get to the green. On some, I couldn’t get within 100 yards of the green.”

Reed, who played with Ian Poulter and Keegan Bradley, birdied all four par-5s and finished the round with 28 putts. He hit 11 greens in regulation but spoke highly about being able to convert downhill sliders.

In addition to the par-5s, Reed also birdied Nos. 4 and 11.

“I made a lot of downhill sliders, which is absolutely huge around here,” Reed said. “If you look at every guy who’s won this event, they make those 5-, 6-foot downhill sliders. That’s something you just have to do because you’re not always going to get uphill putts.”

Reed said the greens were more receptive when he started at 9:02 a.m. but progressively firmed up throughout the round.

“If it keeps being warm and breezy, it will firm up even more,” he said. “Come the weekend, and even (Friday) afternoon, I’m sure it’s going to be fast.”