Reed brings ‘Captain America’ intensity to Ryder Cup
Former Masters and PGA champion Doug Ford dies at 95
WASHINGTON, May 16, (Agencies): With a flamboyant style and emotional boldness, Masters champion Patrick Reed promises to bring excitement to September’s Ryder Cup and possibly the first US victory in Europe since 1993.
The 27-year-old Texan nicknamed “Captain America” had the audacity to put finger to mouth and shush European fans during a match in Scotland as a rookie in 2014. He waved his arms to implore US cheers two years ago in an emotional Cup singles victory over Rory McIlroy in an American home Cup triumph.
“It’s such an honor. When it comes down to Ryder Cup, you are playing for your country,” Reed said. “You have your teammates. It’s a whole different beast.”
It’s one that brings out the best in Reed, who led the US squad with 3.5 points in each of his prior Ryder Cup appearances.
While final rosters will not be settled until September, it’s hard to imagine a Ryder Cup lacking Reed’s fiery intensity.
Reed admits the Ryder Cup, and the 2024 Paris Olympics golf event set for the same Le Golf National course, lurk in his thoughts.
“Well, yeah, of course. It’s always in the back of your mind,” Reed said. “The easiest way to make those teams is just focus on what you’re doing right now. If you prepare how you’re supposed to every week and you play how you’re supposed to every week, come 2020, 2024, you’re going to be in there. You’re going to make the team.
“The more you start thinking ahead is when you lose track of what you’re doing now. All of a sudden you’re not going to improve.”
Doug Ford, the oldest surviving Masters champion who won 19 times on the PGA Tour and was the player of the year in 1957, has died. He was 95.
The PGA Tour said Ford’s family notified the tour that he died Monday night. Details of his death were not immediately available.
Ford was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2011 for a career when prize money was so small that he earned most of his cash gambling during practice rounds. His best year was 1957, when his three victories included the Masters. He was runner-up twice, had 22 top 10s and earned $45,379.
Reed
Jay Monahan might have been overly ambitious when he said he hoped to have next year’s PGA Tour schedule ready to announce at The Players Championship. The commissioner is not in a big rush, and there remain a few moving parts.
And it goes beyond finding a title sponsor for the Houston Open.
The Houston Open currently is slotted for the week before the US Open next year, and tour officials remain confident it will be on the schedule. The final piece of the puzzle is the section between the US Open and the British Open.
The John Deere Classic has been held the week before the British Open since 2004, except for in 2016 because of the Olympics.
“Our hope is to keep our traditional date,” tournament director Clair Peterson said. The PGA Tour wants to wrap up the FedEx Cup playoffs before football season, and not just the start of the NFL. The plan is for the season to end before college football gets started, which means finishing a week before Labor Day.
The wife of golfer Lucas Glover was arrested by US police following an alleged altercation with the former US Open champ and his mother after he failed to make the cut at The Players Championship.
Krista Glover was arrested Saturday night and booked into a Florida jail before being released on $2,500 bail, the Miami Herald reported on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old is due back in court on May 31 to face charges of domestic violence battery and resisting arrest.
According to the newspaper, which obtained a copy of the police report, Glover and his wife got into an altercation at a rented Florida home after he shot a 78 and missed the 54-hole cut at the tournament in Ponte Vedra Beach.