AUGUSTA, Ga. — As Patrick Reed surveyed his second shot, he seemed to have a dozen worries on his mind.

Which way was the wind blowing? Where on the green should he land his ball? Would the fans in his peripheral vision stop moving?

In a sport where the ball is still and the mind is active, and where distractions from unruly fans, bad bounces or sudden gusts of wind abound, focus can be difficult to maintain. But during the first round of the 2018 Tour Championship in Atlanta, it became nearly impossible. Reed took one last look at his target and what he saw nearly made his head go haywire.

Why was his estranged father standing behind the green?

No one on the PGA Tour these days has his powers of concentration tested as much as Reed, whose sometimes brash personality generates intense reaction among his peers and the public alike. For every person like the two-time major winner Curtis Strange, who said that he admires Reed’s self-belief, there are dozens who will never forgive him for proclaiming himself “a top-five player in the world” when he was 23 years old and ranked No. 20.