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Patrick Reed has outlined the full extent of his recent brush with pneumonia, revealing that doctors advised him to say goodbye to his family in case he didn’t survive.
The former Masters champion was hospitalised for six days last month after developing bilateral pneumonia.
Reed, 31, has made a near miraculous recovery and is in the field for this week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta as he chases a spot on the US Ryder Cup team.
However, speaking to reporters after the opening round at East Lake, he explained that the oucome could have been very different.
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“The first couple days, [the doctors] were sitting there telling me that make sure you text your family quite a bit, talk to your family, because you just don’t know,” he said. “I mean, this is not good. We’re not in a good spot right now.
“With how the hospitals are these days because of COVID and
everything that’s going on, it doesn’t matter what’s going on, they
won’t allow people in there, so it’s only you in there. So I’m sitting
there and those first two days the only thing that was going through my
mind is, I’m not going to be able to tell my kids goodbye. I’m not
going to be able to tell them I love them. I’m not going to be able to
tell my wife that I love her and give her a hug.
“It hit me just like a brick. All of a sudden, I went from feeling okay to literally feeling like I couldn’t breathe and was almost
drowning in air. It hit me so fast. It was so brutal.”
Reed, who does not believe that his issue was COVID-related, stating that he was only tested for the coronavirus when he left hospital, added that was left “battling for my life”.
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All of which makes it extraordinary that he could make a fourth Ryder Cup appearance later this month.
“The biggest thing is, talking with [Steve Stricker] and stuff, is just making sure I’m healthy,” he added. “I think the biggest thing for me this week is just to see kind of where I’m at. And I know by Ryder Cup my game’s going to be where it needs to be, as long as I feel like my health is where it needs to be and as long as I feel like I can sustain through rounds of golf.”
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