Though Patrick Reed found himself in a bit of hot water a few years ago when he pronounced himself one of the top 5 players in the world, the new Masters champion has the numbers to say he’s among the top dozen.

Reed ascended to No.11 with his triumph at Augusta National, the first time he’s cracked the top 15 since early 2017. He reached a high of No.7 in late 2016 before enduring a winless run that reached 20 months before Sunday.

“You know, I stand by my comments. I feel like that 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. You know, but the way you’re going to do that is perform in these big events and to win these big events,” said Reed on Sunday evening.

“You know, I’m just happy to be up here and be able to say I’ve gotten over that hump of not winning at all last year, coming into a year that one of my biggest goals was to win a major and compete in golf tournaments.

“To be able to get them both at once, to end the drought and win a major, it helps me mentally, and also helps my resume, and hopefully I can just take this momentum going forward and play some really solid golf.”

It also was a good week for Rickie Fowler, whose ascent to sixth was just one off his career high in 2015. And Jordan Spieth is back up to No.3, bumping Jon Rahm after flirting with the Masters scoring record on Sunday.

WORLD RANKINGS: TOP 20

Credit: OWGR, Getty Images