The crucial equipment change Patrick Reed made before winning THE NORTHERN TRUST

MEDINAH, Ill. -- Sitting in 55th place after Saturday’s round at the 2019 Wyndham Championship, Patrick Reed made an equipment change that sparked momentum he would carry into that Sunday, and subsequently, THE NORTHERN TRUST.

Reed was paired with Webb Simpson during the first two rounds at the Wyndham Championship, and they got to talking about golf balls, as Reed told PGATOUR.COM. Reed said he expressed concern about his flat ball flight to Simpson, who encouraged Reed to change golf balls.

While Reed has switched golf balls multiple times throughout 2019, he had settled into a Titleist Pro V1 “left dot” prototype. Fordie Pitts, Titleist’s Golf Ball R&D rep, once explained to PGATOUR.COM that the TOUR-only, left-dot prototype golf ball spins “a little bit less and aerodynamically it flies a little lower.” For Reed, it was spinning too little and flying too low, thus causing control issues coming into the greens.

According to Reed, Simpson suggested that Reed switch into a higher-spinning and higher-launching 2017 Pro V1 golf ball, instead of the “left dot” prototype.

Reed said that Simpson gave him a dozen of the golf balls to use for the weekend at the Wyndham Championship. While Reed didn’t switch on Saturday, he said he put the 2017 Pro V1 golf ball in play on Sunday.

After sitting in 55th place heading into the final round, Reed shot 7-under using the golf ball on Sunday, vaulting him into a T22 finish.

Reed carried that momentum, and his new higher-flying and higher spinning golf ball, into THE NORTHERN TRUST. Of course, Reed went onto win THE NORTHERN TRUST after rounds of 66-66-67-69 (16-under). That means that Reed is 23-under-par in the five rounds since switching golf balls.

There are two main takeaways from this: 1) Golf ball fitting matters, and 2) Thank you, Webb Simpson.