Reed wins Barclays; Fowler falls off Ryder Cup team
Patrick Reed picked up two victories in one day. He won the Barclays to assure himself a clear shot at the $10 million bonus in the FedEx Cup, and he easily secured a spot on his second straight U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Rickie Fowler, with a surprising meltdown, walked away empty from Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Reed overcame an early twoshot deficit and built a big enough lead on the back nine that some nervous shots and sloppy play didn’t keep him from winning for the first time since the 2015 opener at Kapalua. A bogey on the final hole gave him a 1-under-par 70 and a one-shot victory over Sean O’Hair and Emiliano Grillo.
“It’s just been great to finally be able to close one off,” Reed said.
Fowler still hasn’t won in four tries as a 54-hole leader on the PGA Tour, and this one might sting. He was still in contention, two shots behind with four holes to play, and at least figured to have one of the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team locked up. Fowler needed to finish third to move past Zach Johnson into the eighth spot in the U.S. standings, and he was two shots clear of O’Hair and Grillo.
His tee shot into deep rough left of the 15th fairway led to bogey. From more rough on the 16th, he went into a bunker and took two shots to reach the green, making a double bogey. After a 20-foot birdie putt kept alive his hopes, he found more rough on the 18th hole and finished with a bogey for a 74.
Fowler tied for seventh and moved up one spot to No. 11 in the standings. “I wasn’t trying to get a decent finish,” Fowler said. “I was trying to win.”
Fowler still has a reasonable chance to be at Hazeltine on Sept. 30 for the Ryder Cup because Davis Love III doesn’t make his three captain’s picks until after the next two FedEx Cup playoff events.
Reed, who finished at 9under 275, wasn’t the only player who felt like a big winner. O’Hair was among five players who moved into the top 100 in the FedEx Cup, advancing to the next playoff event at the TPC Boston. And he made a big move, closing with a 66 to tie for second. That moved him all the way up to No. 15, assuring two more playoff events and giving O’Hair a good shot at staying in the top 30 who qualify for the finale at the Tour Championship.
Grillo birdied the final hole for a 69 and moved to No. 6.
Defending champion Jason Day struggled all week with his accuracy and had to settle for a 69, tying for third with Gary Woodland (69) and Adam Scott (71). The top 70 after next week advance to the third playoff event, with the top 30 going to East Lake for the Tour Championship. LPGA Tour: Ariya Jutanugarn ran away with the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open at chilly Priddis Greens in Alberta for her LPGA Tour-leading fifth victory of the year.
Nine days after withdrawing from the Rio Olympics because of a left knee injury, the 20-yearold Thai player made a 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 6-under 66 for a and a fourstroke victory over South Korea’s Sei Young Kim (65). Champions Tour: A day after his 59th birthday, Bernhard Langer made a 3-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Woody Austin and Kevin Sutherland to win the Boeing Classic at TPC Snoqualmie (Wash.) Ridge. Langer birdied the par-5 18th in regulation for a 5-under 67 to match Austin (67) and Sutherland (64) at 13-under 203. European Tour: Thomas Pieters improved his chances of earning a captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup by winning the Made in Denmark tournament in Farso. The 24-year-old Belgian, who was fourth in the Olympics, finished with three birdies for a 6-under 65 and a 17-under total of 267 to beat Bradley Dredge by one stroke.