Reed slams US team selection after Ryder Cup rout
Player slams US team selection, egos for loss
NEW YORK: Patrick Reed has criticised the leadership of the United States’ Ryder Cup team in the wake of their thrashing by Europe.
In comments reported by the New York Times on Monday, Reed slammed the decision to split up his previously successful partnership with Jordan Spieth and suggested that “egos” had scuppered the US challenge in France.
The USA were thrashed 17.5 to 10.5 on Sunday, ensuring that the long wait for an American victory on European soil would continue.
As Europe basked in the afterglow of victory, however, Reed took aim at the “buddy system” which he claimed influenced the US loss.
The 28-year-old Masters champion said he had wanted to play with Spieth but saw his wishes go ignored.
“The issue’s obviously with Jordan not wanting to play with me,” Reed told the Times.
“I don’t have any issue with Jordan. When it comes right down to it, I don’t care if I like the person I’m paired with or if the person likes me, as long as it works and sets up the team for success.
“He and I know how to make each other better. We know how to get the job done.”
Spieth, 25, was paired with close friend Justin Thomas, and they went 3-1 while Reed went 0-2 in two outings with Tiger Woods.
Reed was left out of the pairings in the Friday and Saturday afternoon sessions by captain Jim Furyk.
“For somebody as successful in the Ryder Cup as I am, I don’t think it’s smart to sit me twice,” Reed complained.
Reed said the Americans had failed to take heed of their own inspirational messages pinned up in the team room.
“Every day, I saw ‘Leave your egos at
the door’,” Reed said. In a reference to the victorious Europeans, he added: “They do that better than us.”
HARRINGTON EYES CAPTAINCY
Three-time major winner Padraig Harrington wants to be Europe’s Ryder Cup captain and has received the backing of stalwart Rory McIlory to lead the team in their title defence in 2020.
Irishman Harrington, one of Thomas Bjorn’s vice-captains as Europe completed a crushing 17.5-10.5 victory over the United States on Sunday, is odds-on favourite to captain the team at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, according to Sky Bet.
“It’s an interesting one because I wouldn’t do it without a certain trepidation because it’s not easy, it really isn’t easy. It’s a tough, tough job,” Harrington told Irish national radio station RTE in an interview broadcast on Monday.
“But on balance yes, I want to be a Ryder Cup captain at some stage.”
Harrington, who won back-to-back British Opens in 2007 and 2008 before going on to win his third major at that year’s PGA Championship, played in six successive Ryder Cups from 1999 to 2010, helping Europe to four victories.
Still playing, the 47-year-old narrowly missed out on his first European Tour title at the Czech Masters last month where his second-place finish was by far his best placing in almost a year.
Northern Ireland’s McIlroy believes Harrington’s success as a player across the Atlantic would make him a good choice.
“I’ve always thought Padraig would be a good captain in the United States. He’s won a lot of golf tournaments over there, he’s won a PGA Championship,” McIlroy said.
“I think the continuity in the European camp having all these vice-captains this year and preparing for captaincy down the road has been a huge foundation of why we’ve been so good.”