Patrick Reed beat his countrymen Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth, as well as rival Rory McIlroy, to win the first major title of his career at the Masters on Sunday. The 27-year-old finished with a 15-under 273, beating out Fowler who was one stroke behind.

"I knew it was going to be a dogfight," Reed said. "It's just a way of God basically saying, 'Let's see if you have it.' Everyone knows you have it physically with the talent. But do you have it mentally? Can you handle the ups and downs throughout the round?"

Despite being ranked behind his three closest competitors as 24th in the world, Reed managed to enter the top of the leaderboard in the second round of the tournament on Friday with a tally of 66. By Sunday, only four of his pursuers were within seven strokes of his score.

On Sunday, Reed bogeyed three times, each swiftly followed by a birdie to stay on par and eventually win the $1.98 million (161 million euros) in prize money.

He had been paired with Northern Irish golfer McIlroy in the final twosome, a four-time major winner and former world number one who was hoping to complete his career with a Masters victory. However, four bogeys in the final 14 holes kept him from reaching that goal.

'Captain America'

Reed has been nicknamed "Captain America" after representing his country at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup competitions.

"I feel like I've played some golf that I need to play in order to get to where I want to be, and that's to be the best golfer in the world," he said. "The way you're going to do that is perform in these big events and to win these big events."

Ever outspoken, Reed rubbed many the wrong way when he compared himself to "legends of the game" like Tiger Woods, and declared himself to be a world top-five talent.

Many had thought the Woods, 42, might make a comeback at this years' Masters after a strong start, but failed to deliver in later rounds of the tournament. Defending champion Sergio Garcia also cut something of a pathetic figure after taking a mulligan on Friday.

es/se (AFP, dpa)