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Melbourne - Patrick Reed went some way to silencing his critics with an emphatic win at the Presidents Cup on Sunday, saying he was determined not to let the knockers get to him.
The former Masters champion was taunted by sections of the crowd all week after being branded a cheat by International opponent Cameron Smith for improving his lie in sand at the Bahamas last week.
Tensions boiled over on Saturday when his caddie and brother-in-law Kessler Karain shoved a fan for swearing at Reed and was banned from carrying his bags in the crunch singles matches on Sunday.
Reed turned to his swing coach Kevin Kirk and it worked well as he crushed Taiwan's CT Pan 4 and 2 to give the United States momentum on their way to a 16-14 win over Ernie Els' Internationals.
"You make birdies, you don't hear much. The biggest thing today, which I felt like I didn't do early on this week, was we didn't get up in our matches," said Reed.
"When you're not up on your matches, the other team, the crowd will get more vocal. If you get up in your match, the crowd will be pretty quiet. I was able to do that and silence a couple."
Last week in the Bahamas Reed's practice swings had twice moved sand from behind his ball in a waste bunker.
He insisted he had not deliberately improved his lie, despite being penalised, but fans in Melbourne gave him grief, with one group following him dressed in white overalls with "Reed Excavations" written on the back.
Reed said his family and teammates told him the only way to respond was play great golf, and that's what he did.
"I think it's a team effort. With family back home, and then also with captain (Tiger Woods) and teammates, they said, 'hey, the only thing we can do is go out and play the best golf we can. Play your match and try to win a point'," he said.
Asked what he had learned from the experience, the 29-year-old said it was to "continue grinding and not let the crowds or let people get in the way of what you're trying to do, and that's play golf".
"You know, the past couple days were tough, and you know, today still wasn't easy," he added.
"Kessler was definitely missed but at the same time (Kirk) has been out there with us, Kessler and I, during practice rounds.
"He knew kind of what to do and how to handle different situations, just kind of like Kessler."
