Reed relishes being Captain America — or Public Enemy No. 1

SAINT- QUENTIN- EN-YVELINES, FRANCE (AP) » Patrick Reed relishes the role of Captain America.

He’s just as comfortable being Public Enemy No. 1 at the Ryder Cup.

“I’m supposed to be the villain, just like when Ian Poulter comes to the States, he’s the villain,” Reed smirked. “You expect to hear the fans kind of go back and forth with you. If it’s not happening, it probably means you’re not playing very well.”

Reed was a convenient target of the European faithful at Gleneagles back in 2014, telling them to hush after he made a big putt.

Nothing figures to change when the U.S. tries to retain the cup at Le Golf National just outside of Paris.

As far as Reed is concerned, bring it on.

“There’s really nothing to get underneath my skin, that’s for sure,” Reed said.

He clearly relishes the charged atmosphere of a Ryder Cup, having lost only one of nine matches over his first two appearances. At Hazeltine two years ago, he teamed with Jordan Spieth to go 3- 0-1 in foursomes and four-balls before beating Rory McIlroy in singles on the final day, leading the Americans to their first victory since 2008.

Now, the 28- year- old Reed is eager to end another drought.

The U.S. team has gone a quarter- century since its last victory in Europe.

“The young guys don’t want to have to go through what the old guys did every 25 years,” he said. “Put our foot down and go out and play some good golf, kind of like we did in 2016, and try to win the cup and take the cup back home.”

Since last playing in the Ryder Cup, Reed has added a snazzy new line to his resume.

Masters champion. That first major title has only added to Reed’s confidence.

“It’s a good problem to have to have people either saying Captain America or Masters champion,” Reed said. “But this week,” he quickly added, “I’m definitely Captain America.”

Hewas coy about another pairing with Spieth, though it would certainly be a gutsy move for captain Jim Furyk to break up a duo that meshed so well at the last two Ryder Cups

FRANCOIS MORI - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tiger Woods of the US plays with his teammates Patrick Reed, left, and Bryson Dechambeau, right, during a practice session at Le Golf National in Guyancourt, outside Paris, France, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018.