Spieth, Reed developing intriguing frival relationship

Jordan Spieth and Patrick Reed seem to bring out the best in one another. Whether it’s as an unlikely-yet-lethal Ryder Cup duo or playing alongside each other at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions on Thursday, the pairing just works.

Thanks to their opening rounds at Kapalua’s Plantation Course, they’ll get to do it again on Friday. After struggling to score through the first two-thirds of his round, Reed played the final six holes in 6 under par, including an eagle 3 at the par-18th, set up by a 3-wood approach from 309 yards. His 8-under 65 is better than Spieth by a shot after Day 1.

“For whatever reason it is, whether we want to feed off each other or we want to beat the crap out of each other, we somehow play well together,” Spieth said. “We still want to outdo each other, even when we’re teammates. So it’s a good pairing.”

However, Spieth realizes he could have been facing a much deeper hole to Reed.

“Patrick could have shot 13 under today,” Spieth said. “If he had his putter going at the start of the round … he missed quite a few short-length putts on the front nine.”

The game of “anything you can do…” has proven to work out well. Expect something similar on Friday.

Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.

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