Masters gets deserved but unpopular winner in Patrick Reed

New Masters champion Patrick Reed receives his Green Jacket from 2017 winner Sergio Garcia. Picture: Getty Images

It wasn't quite Stewart Cink denying Tom Watson a sixth Claret Jug at the age of 60 Turnberry.

There can be no denying, though, that Patrick Reed wasn’t the most popular winner of the 82nd Masters. Not even close.

Make no mistake, the 27-year-old was a deserved champion after holding off everything that was thrown at him in the final round at Augusta National.

We already knew from his Ryder Cup exploits at both Gleneagles and Hazeltine that Reed is tough as nails. This performance merely rubber-stamped that.

Patrick Reed celebrates after winning the 82nd Masters. Picture: AP

He’s the fourth straight first-time major winner at Augusta following Jordan Spieth, Danny Willett and Sergio Garcia.

Reed, who was wearing an azalea pink top in the final round, broke par in every round with scores of 69-66-67-71 to finish on 15-under.

He’s the fifth player to claim a Green Jacket in his fifth start in this event, the last having been Jack Nicklaus in 1963.

Yet, despite all that, it still felt a bit like that Open Championship on the Ayrshire coast in 2009 due to the other storylines that could have been written on the last day.

Runner-up Rickie Fowler, right, shakes hands with Jon Rahm after playing the last. Picture; AP

Former Scottish Open champion Rickie Fowler finished runner-up. He covered the last 11 holes in six-under, capping that thrust with a last-hole birdie, as he closed with a 67.

He’d certainly have proved a much more popular winner than Reed and the same certainly goes for Jordan Spieth.

The 2015 winner stormed into contention by covering the first 17 holes in nine-under and was tied for the lead at one stage.

If he’d birdied the last, Spieth might have been the one having the Green Jacket slipped over his shoulders by 2017 winner Sergio Garcia in the Butler Cabin.