Reed breaks out fast
Patrick Reed didn’t break anything yesterday except par.
Two days after Reed broke the gavel during the ceremonial closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, the American kept a clean card and shot a 5-under-par 66 to share the lead with Martin Laird at The Barclays in Farmingdale, N.Y.
Reed was dressed in a blue blazer with an American tie when he was asked to bang the gavel three times at the stock exchange closing on Tuesday. On the third hit, the top of the gavel flew off into the crowd, and Reed later made a joke at his own expense on Twitter.
“They told me to give it 3 good hits, so I did!” he tweeted.
He was much better with a golf club in hand at Bethpage Black, running off three birdies and an eagle on the front nine to close out his 66.
The start of the FedEx Cup playoffs, with a $10 million bonus waiting at the end, was more about a cup that doesn’t pay a dime. A dozen or so Americans are still in the mix to make the Ryder Cup team. Qualifying ends after this week for the top eight, and then Davis Love III has four captain’s picks during the next month.
Reed is winless this year and holding down the No. 8 position in the Ryder Cup standings.
“Of course it’s on my mind,” Reed said. “But really at the end of the day, it’s just trying to get better and play this tournament. Because if I play well, that means those other guys are going to have to play even better to try to catch me.”
Reed and Laird, who also played bogey-free, were 1 shot ahead of three other Ryder Cup hopefuls — Rickie
Fowler, Kevin Chappell and J.B. Holmes, whose 67 was the best score among those who played in stronger wind in the afternoon. Defending champion Jason Day, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, was among those at 68.
Of the 18 players who broke 70, five played late.
Chappell likely would have to win The Barclays to make the team, while Fowler needs at least a two-way tie for fourth to have a mathematical chance. Fowler went from Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics to North Carolina for the Wyndham Championship to help his cause but only tied for 22nd.
“That’s the No. 1 priority coming into the year,” Fowler said. “I’d say that’s always one of the main goals coming into a Ryder Cup year. Even in the off year, you’re thinking about it. That was the whole reason playing last week, trying to get more points. It would be nice to have a chance to make that team without having to get picked.”
Holmes dropped to No. 9 last week. He has made his points mainly through the majors — a tie for fourth at the Masters, third at the British Open — but as he got closer to making the team, the pressure has increased. He has missed the cut in his last three events, and he couldn’t afford another one.
He spent two hours on the putting green looking for a solution, and might have found it.
“It was really good,” he said. “Had to stay calm today and tried to let go of the results.”
Laird is only interested in the FedEx Cup.
The Barclays is the start of a four-tournament series in which the field size shrinks until 30 qualify for the finale at the Tour Championship. Laird started at No. 89, and with only the top 100 in the standings advancing, starting well was crucial.
U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, the No. 2 seed in the FedEx Cup, recovered from a bogey-bogey start to post a 70, while Adam Scott (No. 3) shot 69. Henrik Stenson, No. 14 in the standings, withdrew to rest his injured right knee.
Ko back in mix
Three-time champion
Lydia Ko was back on the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open leaderboard in Priddis, Alberta. Canadian star
Brooke Henderson got left behind after a late start.
The top-ranked Ko shot a 5-under 67 in the round delayed for nearly three hours because of lightning, leaving her 2 strokes behind leader Chella Choi.
The 18-year-old Henderson was 1-under with three holes left when play was suspended because of darkness. Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ontario, beat Ko in a playoff in June in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship for her first major title.
Choi was 7-under with four holes left. Celebrating her 26th birthday, the South Korean player made consecutive birdies on the par-5 18th and first holes and also birdied the par-4 second and fourth. Northern Ireland’s
Stephanie Meadow was a stroke back after a 66. France’s Karine Icher — playing alongside Choi — was 6-under with four holes left.
Ko has won the event three of the past four years, the first two as an amateur.
Lewis ‘settles’ on 62
Tom Lewis flirted with the first 59 in European Tour history. He had to settle for a 9-under 62 and a three-way tie at the Made In Denmark tournament in Farso.
Lewis made three bogeys over his last five holes at Himmerland Golf and Spa Resort and shared the lead with Thomas Pieters and Joakim Lagergren.
Pieters tied for fourth at the Olympics and was runner-up last week at the Czech Masters.