Following the WGC-Cadillac Championship, winner Patrick Reed sat down for the traditional post-tournament press conference, as champions tend to do. The three-time tour winner burst out of the gate with statements about his confidence and the work he’s put in to get where he is. Where he is —as he pointed out on multiple occasions—is a winner of three of his first 14 PGA Tour events.

Before looking at the substance of his comments, it’s important to point out the two camps fans file into when presented with the athlete who seems a tad too self-congratulatory.

On the one hand, there are those who beat the drum of modesty at all costs. For them, even the most transparent attempts at false modesty and humble bragging are better than an outright expression of extreme confidence in one’s self and abilities.

On the other, those who would like to see more athletes expressing their true beliefs. For this type, seeing Patrick Reed step up to the microphone and say the following would be refreshing: “I’m really good at golf. This was the toughest tournament of the year, and I won. I expect to win every time I tee it up. Whoo!”

The WGC-Cadillac Championship’s winner was not so brash, to be sure. Perhaps there’s something fitting in the fact that Reed assumed a bold posture at a course owned by a man whose bold posturing is synonymous with his name.

Here are a few morsels from Reed’s presser. And remember, the elephant in the room with any soundbyte is the question the interviewee is responding to.

For example, before handing the microphone over to Reed, the moderator said, “Just start by talking about three wins in your last 14 starts, just talk about where you’ve come over that time…” So Patrick Reed was soft pitched opportunities to speak highly of himself…and he hit the ball out of the yard more than once.

Reed began by thanking his “whole team.” Good, standard move for an awards ceremony, not as much for a post-round presser. The golfer’s comments are indicative of his mindset and willingness to share credit, certainly not the calling card of a narcissist.

In response to a question about his confidence, Reed said the following:

“I have a lot of confidence in my game. It’s one of those things that you build confident by how hard you work, and you know, I feel like I’m one of the hardest workers out here and it definitely shows; I have three wins in 14 starts, especially in a field like this, to go wire-to-wire. It’s just one of those things that I feel like with how hard I’ve worked, I mean, I’m working my way up to become a Top-5 player in the world.”

What would we prefer, though? Reed pretend he can’t believe he won and “Aw, shucks!” his way through the presser? He’s worked hard, and he’s entitled to enjoy his success.

Reed was asked about how it feels to have three wins in 14 starts, he said:

“To have three wins in 14 starts, to do the Monday qualifiers the way I did that, and just all those things that we had to go through, it’s just showing that we belong out here, as well as we belong to be in the conversation every week.”

Again, Patrick Reed is a player with a pedigree, but one who struggled to make it onto the Tour. He also routinely lapses into “Team Reed” mode, alternately saying “I” and “we,” which may be part of the issue: Reed is used to hiding behind the “we” of he and caddie-wife Justine. With her pregnant and off the bag, her husband is thrust to the forefront.

Later in the conference, Reed elaborated that his confidence has been built up slowly and he highlighted the touchstone moments. Surely, we can’t blame a man for an honest recap of the building of his self belief when asked where his confidence comes from.

Reed, who should nearly crack the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings with the win, hasn’t received the benefit of the full two year rolling period. He was questioned about remarks he made about feeling like he’s one of the top five golfers in the world.

Perhaps the stats and wins haven’t caught up with the self belief and expectations, but would we ever have faulted a young Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods for similar comments?

Reed offered an honest assessment of what winning this tournament means:

“To play against a field like that and go wire-to-wire and close it off at the end, it just shows that I have what it takes to play at the top level, as well as have what it takes to be one of the top players in the world just like them.”

Golf writers would likely say something similar about Patrick Reed after winning a difficult tournament on a difficult golf course. Is it problematic that the 23-year-old echoed what is likely both a popular belief and his legitimate opinion? I don’t think so.

Reed didn’t disrespect his opponents and his comments aren’t on an Ian Poulter “soon it’s going to be just me and Tiger” level of arrogance and delusion: 3 wins in 14 starts is very impressive. The only golfer winning more regularly as of late is Jimmy Walker. Patrick Reed is truly on the rise. There’s no problem with him saying so.

So, instead of criticizing the golfer for the tone or substance of his replies, let’s focus instead on this response from Reed when asked about how long he’s been working hard (stupid question, incidentally); it’s much more germane to our lives, and it may be his most telling statement of the conference. It’s statements like these we should be talking about, whether than asking whether Reed crossed the confident/braggart line:

“I’m a firm believer that if you’re not working hard, people are working hard and passing you, so you’d better work just as hard if not harder to keep up and also move forward.”