Recharged Reed is electric in the end
JERSEY CITY, N.J. — The harder he worked, the further Patrick Reed felt he was falling behind. That’s when the people around him sought drastic measures by making him leave his golf clubs alone for 10 whole days.
Recharged from his pre-summer break in the Hamptons, Reed finally found the result he was looking for Sunday in The Northern Trust, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
He delivered key shots on three straight holes on the back nine at Liberty National Golf Club — two for birdie, one for par — to overtake Jon Rahm, hold off Abraham Ancer, close with a 2-under-par 69 and win the FedEx Cup playoffs opener.
He finished at 16-under 268, a stroke ahead of Ancer, who also shot a 69. Rahm’s 69 dropped him to a share of third with Harold Varner III (68) at 14 under.
It was Reed’s first victory in 16 months, a span of 41 tournaments worldwide dating to the 2018 Masters, where he secured his first major title and the sixth PGA Tour victory of his career. Now the former University of Georgia and Augusta State golfer has a hard-earned seventh.
“The longer that time period is in between wins, it just makes it tougher,” the 29-yearold Texan said. “I was pushing too hard and was trying harder, and all of a sudden it was going the wrong direction.
“My team was smart enough to tell me to back off, shut it down and reset and get clear, because we can finish the year right. We can get a couple (victories), and no better place than starting the first week of the playoffs.”
Points are quadrupled in the PGA Tour postseason, so the victory vaulted Reed from No. 50 to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings. His place in the season-ending Tour Championship at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club is secure. His odds of winning the $15 million prize are greatly increased.
It still wasn’t enough for him to get in the top eight qualifiers for the Presidents Cup, to be set after next weekend. Reed went to No. 12 and he would have to win the BMW Championship next weekend to qualify. Even so, it was the kind of victory to at least get the attention of U.S. captain Tiger Woods.
Ancer felt like a winner when it was over. He also played bogeyfree over the final 12 holes, and his birdie on the 17th gave him hope. His approach to the 18th came down below a ridge, though, and his long birdie putt to force a playoff went some six feet by the cup. The 28-year-old made that to secure his best finish on the PGA Tour, and second place was enough to send him from No. 67 to No. 8 in the standings, with more perks than he could count.
Ancer is a lock to make it to the Tour Championship in two weeks, meaning he earns his first trip to the Masters. He also wrapped up a spot on the International team for the Presidents Cup, making him the first Mexican in the event.
“When I finished, I was a little down because I didn’t get it done and I feel like I played good,” said Ancer, who was born in Texas but grew up in Mexico. “But then getting all this news that I’m going to the Tour Championship, playing all the majors, going to Masters, all that, I was like, ‘Man, this is not too bad.’ I’m extremely happy, proud of the way I performed. I still obviously want that ‘W,’ but really proud with all the boxes that I checked off today.”
Rahm wasn’t quite that happy. The 24-year-old Spaniard, No. 7 in the World Golf Ranking, led by two shots after 13 holes Sunday before being knocked down by back-to-back bogeys.
The top 70 in the FedEx Cup standings advanced to this week’s BMW Championship, so there were other players who took home consolation prizes.
Varner might have had the biggest day in that regard. He started the postseason at No. 102, and while he came up two shots shy of his first PGA Tour victory, his tie for third moved him to No. 29. That not only gets him in the BMW Championship, he has a realistic shot at making the finale.
Chattanooga native Keith Mitchell closed with a 72 and tied for 64th at 1 under, and he dropped from 37th to 47th in the standings, keeping him in the postseason field but putting on the pressure. Fellow Baylor School graduate Luke List shot a 73, shared 77th at 4 over and went from 87th to 92nd in the standings.
Hur closes well
NORTH BERWICK, Scotland — Mi Jung Hur won her third LPGA Tour title with a brilliant final round at the Ladies Scottish Open.
The 29-year-old South Korean closed with a 5-under 66 in wet conditions at the Renaissance Club to finish at 20-under 264, four shots ahead of compatriot Jeongeun Lee6 (70) and Thailand’s Moriya Jutanugarn (71).
Hur was 1 over through eight holes Sunday but had four straight birdies starting with the ninth and also birdied Nos. 16 and 18 in a back-nine 31 to secure her first win since 2014.
“Honestly I don’t like links courses, but after this week I love it,” Hur told Sky Sports. “It was really tough today with the rain, but my caddie Gary is from Scotland and he helped me a lot on the course.”
Hur was also helped by a second-round 62 in which she took just 24 putts.
Lee6, a newcomer to links golf, won the U.S. Women’s Open in June. Her first three rounds at this tournament were in the 60s, but her three birdies Sunday were weakened by a trio of bogeys.
Jutanugarn was the 54-hole leader with a one-stroke advantage over Hur and Lee6.
Australia’s first
WEST POINT, Miss. — Gabriela Ruffels became the first Australian winner in U.S. Women’s Amateur history, beating Albane Valenzuela of Switzerland 1 up in the 36-hole final at Old Waverly Golf Club.
The 19-year-old Ruffels, preparing for her junior season at the University of Southern California, pulled even with a birdie on the par-5 33rd, took the lead with a birdie on the par-3 35th and matched Valenzuela with a birdie on the par-4 36th.
The 21-year-old Valenzuela will be a senior at Stanford University. She also lost in the 2017 final, falling 6 and 5 to Sophia Schubert at San Diego Country Club. Ruffels beat another Stanford player, Andrea Lee, in the semifinals.
The all-international final was the third in event history.