REED IT & WEEP!

U.S Ryder Cup star leads Masters as big names lurk on leaderboard

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Hopefully, for Patrick Reed’s welfare, between now and Sunday no one reminds him this isn’t a Ryder Cup.

Reed — who already has catapulted himself into being one of the most feared Ryder Cup players on the U.S. side, nicknamed “Captain America” — now has positioned himself to capture his first career major championship, taking a twoshot Masters lead into the weekend with 36 holes to play at Augusta National.

Reed shot a tournament-low 6-under 66 and stands at 9-under for the tournament, leading steady and unflappable Aussie Marc Leishman, who’s 7-under after shooting 67 Friday, by two shots.

“When I played well here in 2013 [tied for fourth] I played with Scotty [Adam Scott] in the final round and saw what it takes to win — take advantage of your opportunities, take some chances and make some putts,’’ Leishman said.

Henrik Stenson, at 5-under, trails Reed by four shots. Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, both of whom are 4-under, trail by five shots. Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, and Justin Thomas, ranked No. 2, are both 3-under.

This day was very much about the 27year-old Reed, ranked 24th in the world. And the weekend figures to be, too.

The past three Masters winners were first-time major championship winners — Spieth in 2015, Danny Willett in 2016 and Sergio Garcia last year. Both Reed and Leishman, who will be paired in Saturday’s third round, during which rain could wreak havoc on the course, are seeking a first major championship title.

“If you don’t believe you can win [majors] you probably shouldn’t be playing,’’ Reed said. “I believe if I play the golf I know I can to play I can win majors. But I can’t get ahead of myself. Thirty-six holes is a lot of holes left. I’ve just got to go out and continue to shoot in the 60s and see if it gets the job done.’’

In Reed’s 12 Masters rounds before this week he had never shot a round in the 60s. This week, he has posted two of them.

“The more you get to play out here the more comfortable you get with the golf course,’’ Reed said.

This is Reed’s fifth Masters. He has missed the cut twice, including last year, and finished tied for 22nd and tied for 49th. But Reed, who has won five times on the PGA Tour, has been trending, with three consecutive top-10 finishes entering this week.

In his two rounds, Reed, who played some of his college golf at Augusta State, which is only a couple of miles from Augusta National, has 22 one-putt greens and has birdied every one of the eight par-5s this week.

The second round, which featured some tricky wind conditions and particularly difficult pin positions (only 16 of the 87 players broke par on Friday), provided somewhat of a correction from Day 1 in that some of the big names in the sport who struggled on Thursday emerged on Friday.

Johnson shot a 4-under 68 to climb into contention despite posting a rather indifferent opening-round 73. And Thomas followed his distasteful opening-round 74 with a 67 and is in contention to win his second consecutive major (he was the 2017 PGA Championship winner).

On the other side, though, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson not only failed to make moves, but both flirted with the cutline.

Mickelson shot a stunning 7-over 79, making the cut on the number. Woods, who hadn’t played the Masters since 2015, entered the week feeling great about himself, having finished runner-up at the Valspar and tied for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in recent weeks.

But Woods never found his game the past two days, and Friday was particularly frustrating because he had a great chance to surge into contention. Woods began the day seven shots behind Spieth in the lead. And, by the time he teed off in the afternoon, because of Spieth’s struggles, Woods was only four shots back.

But he failed to seize the opportunity, immediately making a mess of the first hole after hitting a drive so well he left himself only 92 yards to the flag. Woods hit a poor wedge off the side of the green, followed by a poor chip shot and took bogey. That was a theme of the day.

Woods finished with a 3-over 75 to stand at 4-over — 13 shots behind Reed.

“I’m going to have a shoot a special weekend and need help,’’ Woods said. “I’m not in control of my own destiny I’m so far back.’’

As trying as Woods and Mickelson have had it, there’s no comparison to the two days defending champion Sergio Garcia had.

Garcia, whose green jacket defense was derailed by the 13 he took on the 15th hole Thursday, shot 81 in the first round and 78 Friday and finished 16-over par a year after winning with a 9-under par score. Only two of the 87 players in the field finished worse than Garcia.