Reed roars up field after Woods call

Patrick Reed was able to sleep easily in Turkey after Tiger Woods gave him the news of a Presidents Cup captain’s pick well in advance of yesterday’s announcement.

Woods confirmed the worst-kept secret in golf by naming himself as one of four picks to complete the United States team to face the Internationals at Royal Melbourne next month, with Reed, Tony Finau and Gary Woodland also selected.

Reed is playing the Turkish Airlines Open, where he surged up the leaderboard with a seven-underpar 65 in the second round to sit four shots behind halfway leader Matthias Schwab, who is 12 under.

“It was nice to hear before 3am,” said Reed. “We talked about congratulating me on being in the team and [for me to] expect text messages. [I said] it’ll be 3am here and I’ll be asleep so [he told me] make sure your phone is not on loud.”

The American spoke of his determination to vindicate the decision to pick him, a call that will not be universally popular given Reed’s divisive character. Woods will be the first playing captain since Hale Irwin in 1994.

Reed earned the nickname “Captain America” after his excellence at the 2016 Ryder Cup during which he relished whipping up the partisan home crowd.

“I have a lot of good friends who are Australian and because of that I look forward to it and getting those crowds riled up, that’s kind of what I like to do. It’ll be fun. I can’t wait to play the best I can,” Reed said.

Reed’s score at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal in Belek was bettered by Ross Fisher’s 64 which put him in a tie for second with Danny Willett, Thomas Detry and Alex Noren on 11 under.