By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

LA QUINTA, Calif. -- It’s a good thing for Patrick Reed that the final round of q-school is on a Monday.

Reed of course Monday qualified six times this season on the PGA TOUR. He’s taken advantage of his limited opportunities, too, netting four top-25 finishes in a dozen starts.

Still, if Reed is going to be on the PGA TOUR next season, he needs to finish in the top 25 here at q-school. So far, so good. Reed is 4 under through 13 holes here in the final round and 16 under for the week, one stroke inside the magic number in a tie for 24th.

Why does Reed happen to play so well on Mondays?

“It’s 18 holes, just like match play,” Reed said. “You have to make birdies. It’s the urgency of 18 holes and just getting it done.”

To his point, Reed, a first-team All-American last year at Augusta State, went 6-0 in the match-play portion of the last two NCAA Championships and was a semifinalist at the 2008 U.S. Amateur.

The difference here, of course, is that there 108 holes spread over six days. It’s cliché, but Reed has just tried to take them one day and one round at a time, and he hasn’t changed his philosophy that worked so well in Monday qualifiers this year.

“I’m an aggressive player,” Reed said. “I probably played conservatively once and that was in the first stage and I shot 2 over that day, so that’ll be the last time I play conservatively.”

Carroll/Getty Images

Patrick Reed has made four cuts in eight tries this year on the PGA TOUR.

Patrick Reed’s 65 on Monday may not have been the lowest round of the day, but it was enough to gain the 22-year-old San Antonio native his fifth qualifying berth of the year (tops on the PGA TOUR) for a spot in this week’s True South Open field at Annandale Golf Club in Madison, Miss.

Reed finished behind medalist Austin Gutgsell, who had nine birdies in a bogey-free round of 63, while Zack Reeves and Greg Sonnier each posted rounds of 64 at Monday’s qualifier held at Lake Caroline Golf Club. 

Reed, whose best 2012 finish is T24 at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, has made four cuts in seven starts this year. He previously qualified for the Zurich Classic, Wells Fargo Championship, HP Byron Nelson Championship and Travelers Championship.

Gutgsell, a 22-year-old native of Mandeville, La., also qualified at the FedEx St. Jude Classic and missed the cut with rounds of 73-75. The former LSU Tiger golfer was a teammate with John Peterson and graduated in 2012 with a degree in marketing. He ranks as one of only six LSU golfers to win at least two tournament titles since 1982 – winning the 2010 individual crown at the David Toms Intercollegiate and the 2012 LSU National Invitational.

Sonnier, a 35-year-old native of Jennings, La. and former golfer at Louisiana-Lafayette, has made six cuts in 12 Web.com events in his career, including his best outing – a T8 finish at the 2007 Chitimacha Louisiana Open as a sponsor’s exemption. Prior to qualifying, Sonnier has competed on the Adams Pro Golf Tour Series.

The 27-year-old Reeves, a native of Arlington, Texas who played collegiately at University of Texas-Arlington, is also making his first PGA TOUR start. He also has competed on the Adams Golf Pro Tour.

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Patrick Reed is 3-for-3 in cuts made on the PGA TOUR in 2012.

INSIDE THE FIELD: Field updates from the HP Byron Nelson Championship

By Michael Curet, Special to PGATOUR.COM

Patrick Reed earned his third straight Monday qualifier berth on the PGA TOUR this year, firing a 64 at Lantana Golf Club to secure a spot in this week’s HP Byron Nelson Championship field.

The 21-year-old native of San Antonio, Texas and former Augusta State golfer is trying to make his fourth consecutive cut on the PGA TOUR. He finished T35 in the Valero Texas Open, T23 in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and T32 at the Wells Fargo Championship two weeks ago at Quail Hollow.

Shooting 5-under 67 to join Reed in the field as qualifiers were PGA teaching professional Stuart Deane of Arlington, Texas and former PGA TOUR member Todd Demsey of Scottsdale, Ariz.. Three-time PGA TOUR winner Robert Gamez shot 4-under and earned the final spot in the field in a playoff with Samuel Cyr, Cole Moreland, and Chris Thompson.

Deane will be returning to his home course at TPC Four Seasons Resort in Las Calinas, where he made the cut in 2008. The 40-year-old Australian spent a number of years on the Australasian Tour before settling in Texas.

Demsey, who turns 40 later this month, was a member of the PGA TOUR in 1997 and 2008, in addition to playing nine straight years on the Nationwide Tour, coming back after two surgeries to remove a brain tumor in 2002 and 2003. He tied for second on the in the 1996 Nike Monterrey Open and at the Buy.com Virginia Beach Open. In his only Nationwide Tour start in 2012, he missed the cut at the Chitamacha Louisiana Open.

The 43-year-old Gamez won twice in 1990 on TOUR (Northern Telecom Tucson Open, Nestle Invitational) and came back in 2005 to win the Valero Texas Open. The TOUR veteran has eight runner-up finishes and has made 271 cuts in 529 events played during his career.

This year, Gamez has played in four PGA TOUR events, with his only cut made coming at the Puerto Rico Open (T58). His most recent top-10 finish on PGA TOUR came two years ago, when he tied for fifth at the Reno-Tahoe Open.

By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- His butt is “getting flatter" from all that inter-state driving. He's sleep-deprived, too.

But Patrick Reed is right where he wants to be -- playing in his third straight event on the PGA TOUR. Even better, the former Augusta State standout is tied for third, two shots off the lead at the Wells Fargo Championship after shooting a first-round 66.

Reed's three-week odyssey began at the Valero Texas Open. He played in the pre-qualifier and was three holes into the Monday qualifier when tournament officials came out and told him he had a sponsor's exemption. Reed took full advantage, too, tying for 35th that week.

When he finished his final round in Texas, Reed and his fiancee, Justine Karain, who doubles as his caddy, got in the car and drove to New Orleans. They arrived at 2:45 a.m. and he got four hours sleep before teeing it up in that Monday qualifier -- where he hit an 8-iron to 2 feet on the second playoff hole to earn his spot.

Reed then tied for 24th at TPC Louisiana, closing with a 67 that included five birdies in his last nine holes. This time, his agents splurged and got the couple an airline ticket but he still had to Monday qualify -- shooting a 65 that included a birdie on the final hole.

"Luckily she read the putt correctly on 18 because ... I thought it was breaking left and she said it was breaking right," Reed said. "I wasn't making a lot that day, so I went with her read and read it dead center, and here I am sitting here. If not I would have had an 11-man playoff for three spots."

That wasn't the first time Karain, who played high school golf, proved her worth as a caddy, either. Reed said she read a 12-footer at the 18th hole on Friday at TPC Louisiana and "the next thing you know I was able to play the weekend." The two appear to work very well together.

"She's so positive and just with the whole thing," Reed said. "I get to spend time with her, and with her being so positive, just our team is amazing because if I hit a couple bad shots I'll start to get down on myself and she'll pick me right up immediately and won't allow me to self-sabotage my round or any hole."

Reed, who helped lead Augusta State to two national championships, says he's been growing more and more confident each week. He hit 7 of 14 fairways and all but four greens in regulation on Thursday while using just 26 putts.

"The confidence is definitely there, and I feel like the confidence has been building week after week just because I'm improving every day," Reed said. "First PGA TOUR event, finished 35th; last week I finished 24th. But how I had to do it last week, I had to shoot 5 under the last eight holes. So I mean, just the solid play has been going on and just solid play today.

"It just feels like if I keep working on my golf game, keep improving on my golf game, I can play out here. This tournament especially, just seems like the field has gotten better and better as the week has gone on. Last week I had Bubba, Luke, I had to deal with those guys. This week I have Tiger, Phil, Rory, Westwood. You're sitting here just like, okay, just week after week getting better.
   
"Can't wait until the next PGA TOUR event.  Feels like I'm going to have 64 of the top 64 players are going to be there. So I mean, it's just building confidence and also just building my comfort level, able to see those guys and playing against those guys."