What Butch Harmon thought of Patrick Reed after working with him on his game last year
· Yahoo Sports
Butch Harmon has explained what he thought of Patrick Reed after getting to work with the 2018 Masters champion on his game during what became his final season on LIV Golf.
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Reed, of course, is perhaps the most divisive figure at the highest level of the game. He has been involved in a number of controversies over the years.
The 35-year-old hit the headlines for another reason earlier this year. Reed announced shortly after winning the Dubai Desert Classic that he had decided to leave LIV Golf.
He is currently plying his trade on the DP World Tour while he serves a suspension from the PGA Tour. But given his history at Augusta National, it is no surprise that many are tipping Reed to contend at The Masters this week.
Butch Harmon comments on Patrick Reed after working with him last year
Reed had made just one top 10 in the majors between 2022 and 2024. Meanwhile, he went into the 2025 season having not actually won on LIV Golf.
But he ended that wait in Dallas last year. He also finished third at The Masters, just a couple of shots away from making it into the playoff between Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose.
And it seems that Butch Harmon can at least take a little of the credit for Reed’s upturn in form over the last year.
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty ImagesSpeaking on the Sky Sports Golf Podcast, Harmon discussed Reed’s chances of winning a second Green Jacket this week having worked with him in recent months.
“Isn’t he the leading money winner on the DP World Tour at the moment? He had a hell of a year on LIV last year, played really well. The Masters last year that Rory won, I think Patrick was maybe two shots back and he said, ‘it’s the worst I’ve ever putted’. He could have won The Masters,” he said.
“Patrick Reed, talk about a strange guy, I did a lot of work with Patrick Reed last year and he’s different, I’ll say that for him. But he’s got a tremendous amount of talent. He’s a hard worker, tremendous competitor, and he likes to prove people wrong. All the stuff we’ve heard about him, he did to himself. It’s not made up. I’m not even going to go into the stuff, we’ve all read about it. But he comes here with a chip on his shoulder. I think he’s up there, he’s in a category with the top five that I would say have the best chance.”
Why Brooks Koepka decided to leave the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf
Like Reed, Brooks Koepka made the decision to leave LIV Golf ahead of the 2026 season.
Koepka actually became the first big name to walk away from the league, with his departure being announced in December.
He was able to return to the PGA Tour due to the newly-launched Returning Member Program. It did appear that Koepka never bought into LIV Golf in the same way that the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm have done.
And Harmon has confirmed that Koepka made the decision to jump to LIV due to concerns that his career was winding down.
“Brooks just seemed to be getting a little more form. I’ll tell you a story about Brooks that I know for a fact, he didn’t really want to go to LIV, but he had bad knees,” he said.
“He thought his career might be over, and ‘maybe I should go over here and take the money and ride off into the sunset’. He came to find out that the way he was training was improper. This is what was hurting his knees, and he changed his way of training. Then he wishes he’d never been there.”
It is easy to forget that Koepka did have plenty of success on LIV, winning five times. He also became the first LIV player to win a major in 2023.
However, after a difficult 2025 season on and off the course, he understandably decided to make sure that he prioritised his family.
It is a big boost for the PGA Tour to have Koepka back. It will definitely be a big win for those at Ponte Vedra if Koepka adds a Masters title to his record this week.