REED: I KNOW THEY’LL BE COMING FOR ME
he is keeping that to himself for now. ‘You’ll just have to wait and see,’ he said, mischievously.
On Friday afternoon at east lake, the 28-year-old Masters champion finished his round with five successive bogeys and then practised for an hour in the boiling heat.
‘I know I’m not playing great here, but the ryder cup is a totally different beast,’ he said. ‘When they call my name out on Friday, I’ll be ready to go, don’t worry about that.’
No one doubts it. Not with a record of seven points from nine matches, with just one loss. But such a record makes him a prize scalp.
‘I know they’re going to be coming for me and I’ll have a target on my back,’ he said. ‘But that’s fine. I just want to go out there, do my best, and bring the cup back to America.
‘When I play for my country it just gives a whole extra dynamic to my game and my personality. I can’t let down my nation, my team-mates or my captain. For some reason, pulling on the red, white and blue just gets me pumped up and I’ve learned how to harness that. It brings out the best in me.’
reed’s interaction with the galleries is something that makes him electrifying to watch. It’s a fine line to establish a rapport without being showered with abuse, but reed navigates it perfectly.
‘The crowd knew that when I put my finger across my lips I wasn’t doing it disrespectfully,’ he said. ‘They enjoy the banter. They know how to take the jabs and give it back. The bottom line is they love seeing good golf.
‘I love playing overseas in a ryder cup because I know that if I hit a good shot or win a hole it will be applauded. They want to see birdies and great play and go crazy. It’s great hearing the songs with their playful undertone. Not once have I seen or heard anything that made me think, “Oh, that’s gone too far”.’
reed’s last taste of ryder cup action produced one of the great moments in the event’s history, and a singles against McIlroy that held two continents in thrall. ‘I told my captain I wanted to go out first because we knew they were going to put their best players at the top of the order to try to get some momentum,’ revealed reed.
‘We were thinking rory was going first, and I wanted him. It’s a guessing game, but I was thrilled when it came about and it was a brilliant match. To come out on top and pave the way for the team to finish the job was a lot of fun.’
reed is well-liked in the europe team room but knows friendships will be laid to one side for seven days.
‘You have to consider them the enemy,’ he said. ‘You try to shove them into the wall a bit. You want to get underneath their skin, kind of mess with them for fun and games. It’s the one event where we can let loose and pry, poke and do whatever we want to the guys knowing it’s part of the fun.’
As if reed needed any further motivation, he did a double-take when told how long it had been since the last American victory in europe. He knew it was a while but had no idea it was 25 years ago.
‘You’re telling me I was three years old the last time we won on foreign soil?’ he says, with mock outrage. ‘We’ve gotta change that. We are way more focused than we were in 2014. The guys are playing better and we’re heading over with a real purpose.’
With that, captain America went to meet his fans and sign autographs. ‘I’m just waiting for someone to ask me to draw a shield as well,’ he said, smiling.