Golfer Patrick Reed defied all expectations to win his first major championship at the Masters in Augusta, Ga., over the weekend.
“It was a dream come true,” Reed told Cheddar Monday. “Every child growing up who is a golfer and loved golf was always on the putting green saying, ‘Alright this is up and down to win the Masters’
“To actually have that happen, it was a surreal moment.”
The 27-year-old beat out Rickie Fowler, 2015 champ Jordan Spieth, and former world #1 Rory McIlroy, who was aiming to seal a career grand slam.
“Something that I’ve struggled with in the past is...I thought of them as majors and made them so big and put so much pressure on myself,” said Reed.
This time around, though, he said he stuck to one mantra: “Just go out and play golf.”
But beyond the tough competition, Reed faced a tough crowd. His brazen personality has long antagonized golf fans, many of whom were rooting for others in the lineup instead.
And he had history to contend with. Going into the Masters, many were hoping Tiger Woods would pull off what would be [the greatest comeback](https://cheddar.com/videos/will-tiger-woods-score-at-the-masters) in sports history. But finishing tied for 32nd place, Woods didn’t even come close to the top spot and mentioned he’d take a breather before competing again.
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/masters-champion-patrick-read-on-his-path-to-victory).
Fintech companies are taking notice of the rapid growth in esports, and Quicken Loans has partnered with 100 Thieves, a League of Legends expansion team. Quicken CMO Casey Hurbis said this venture opened the company's eyes to the endless possibilities of esports and its personalities.
The Twitter Esports Business Summit ran from Oct. 1-3, and it held its focus on the growing market of esports and how Twitter fits into the business. Rishi Chadha, head of gaming content partnerships at Twitter, said the company is focusing on the communities that foster players and fans, as well as publishers and developers of different platforms.
The team became the first in the NBA to introduce GIFs for the Facebook platform. Sandro Gasparro, director of social media for the Los Angeles Clippers, told Cheddar it's not just another way to promote engagement, but can also connect fans to players on a more personal level.
Ralf Reichert, CEO of ESL, sat down with Cheddar at this weekend's tournament at the Barclays Center and talked about the esports world and what he believes is needed for the enterprise to grow.
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Ron Darling, a former MLB starting pitcher and current TBS baseball analyst, said the easiest way to attract younger people to baseball is to get more kids playing it when they're kids. Darling said there are more children opting out of football due to concerns about head injuries, and those athletes should be primed to take up a different sport.
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18Birdies has seen success as a one-stop shop for golfers, both amateur and pro, gaining 1.3 million members since its launch. The app lets players book tee times, navigate a new course, and choose the right club. But CEO Eddy Lui says the main goal is to create a community ー a social network ー of golfers.
The blockchain has made its way into a slew of industries. Next at bat ー the sports world. The Los Angeles Dodgers are moving away from traditional promotions and have begun using crypto tokens to give away digital bobbleheads to fans. Ralph Esquibel, VP of information technology for the team, said this is the first giveaway of its kind and could lead to more experiments with cryptocurrencies.
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