Patrick Reed paid tribute to the patrons of Augusta National after the LIV Golf star made his long-awaited PGA Tour return at The Masters last week.
Reed was one of 18 LIV stars who competed at the opening major championship of the year, amid the ongoing dispute between the PGA Tour and the Saudi-backed series. Even prior to his new-found LIV allegiances, Reed was often regarded as golf's pantomime villain by fans.
And with the added controversy of his recent Saudi switch, it remained to be seen how the 2018 Masters champion was going to be received by the patrons at the famous Georgia course.
On the whole, though it seems Reed's reception was a positive one, with the American even revealing he received a number of 'go 4 Aces' shouts - the team in which the 32-year-old turns out for on the breakaway circuit. After an impressive tied-fourth finish on Sunday, he said: "The fans were good.
"I heard a lot of them go 'go 4 Aces' out there and I had some cheers. I had the usual, every once in a while there were murmurs here and there but as a whole everybody was great. They were very respectful and the fans were like how they always are, always really good."
As well as being welcomed by the Augusta patrons, Reed revealed the reception from his rivals from the PGA Tour was similar too. The 2018 Masters champion revealed he had not seen a number of his fellow players since the fallout, admitting "it was like nothing had really changed".
"Seeing a lot of the guys back I haven't seen player-wise, I mean it was as if nothing had really changed," he added. "We are competitors just playing golf and they treated us all the same way." Augusta proved to be the perfect setting for a partial ceasefire of golf's civil war, and on the back of it, Reed believes it is time for peace.
Asked if he felt the two rival tours could peacefully co-exist, the American - who has continued to play on the DP World Tour following his PGA ban - said: "Yeah, I felt that way even before this week. I have played on the European [DP World] Tour events there. All the guys have been fine there in the events I have played. They have treated me the same no matter what."
