Ryder Cup star: I have one week to save my Bethpage dream
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Patrick Reed is keen to don his Ryder Cup cape once more. And Captain America knows just what he needs to do to achieve that…
It’s strange to think that Patrick Reed has only played in three Ryder Cups.
Such was his impact at Gleneagles in 2014 and Hazeltine in ‘16 – he contributed 25 percent of the US team’s total points tally over the two matches – he was granted the nickname Captain America from his fans.
Reed seemed destined to be a Ryder Cup fixture for many years. As it turned out, the 2018 defeat in Paris was his last.
Next time out at Whistling Straits, Reed finished 11th in the qualification process and was the only player in the top 12 not taken to Wisconsin by Steve Stricker. A year later he joined LIV Golf and all but ended his Ryder Cup career.
But buoyed by Brooks Koepka winning the PGA Championship to earn a pick from Zach Johnson for the Rome matches, and Bryson DeChambeau’s major form effectively sealing his spot for Bethpage – where Reed is a former champion, of course – the former Masters champion knows he has just one shot at pulling on the red and blue in September.
“It’s always on your mind,” Reed, who is currently 33rd in the qualification standings, said ahead of this week’s LIV Golf Dallas event. “Anytime I get to represent our country, it means a lot to me. For me personally, I’m always thinking about trying to make every team.
“Obviously being a part of LIV where we don’t get points, it’s an uphill battle, but really for me it’s focused on playing some great golf and having a chance.”
That chance is the one remaining major of the season.
“It’s really going to come down to the Open Championship,” Reed continued.
“You have a really good showing and play well there, then you just never know.
“It is looking like no matter what it’s going to rely on a pick unless I go ahead and win The Open. Really the only way I can focus on the Ryder Cup is that one week, go out and give all I have and have a chance to win.”
Patrick Reed’s Ryder Cup record
2014 (Gleneagles, Scotland)
Fourballs: 2-0-0
Foursomes: 0-0-1
Singles: 1-0-0
Total: 3-0-1
Points: 3.5
Result: Europe 16½-11½ USA
2016 (Hazeltine National, Minnesota)
Fourballs: 1-1-0
Foursomes: 1-0-1
Singles: 1-0-0
Total: 3-1-1
Points: 3.5
Result: USA 11-17 Europe
2018 (Le Golf National, France)
Fourballs: 0-2-0
Foursomes: 0-0-0
Singles: 1-0-0
Total: 1-2-0
Points: 1
Result: Europe 17½-10½ USA
Overall
Fourballs: 3-3-0
Foursomes: 1-0-2
Singles: 3-0-0
Total: 7-3-2
Points: 8
Reed also weighed in on what has been the biggest talking point in the lead-up to this year’s Ryder Cup: Keegan Bradley’s chances of making his own team.
And he is in no doubt as to how he would handle the situation.
“Honestly, if I was in his shoes, if I felt like I was playing inside that top 12, then I’d play,” the 34-year-old explained.
“If he continues playing the way he’s playing and continues competing on Sundays and having a chance to win, I’m all for it.
“It’s all what he feels like is the best for the team. That’s what you have amazing vice captains for, to take over that role if you’re out there having a chance to play and have a good chance for the US to bring the cup home.”
He even managed what felt like a thinly-veiled dig at 2021 captain Stricker.
“The thing about being a captain,” he explained, “it’s about putting the best team forward no matter who it is – and whoever is in the best form is obviously one of those guys that I’d make sure is on the team.
It’s isn’t difficult to imagine a future in which Reed is one day the US Ryder Cup captain and picks himself.
