Ryder Cup star moves up

ERIN, Wis. — Patrick Reed has always been at his best when playing for his country. Playing for his country’s championship suited him well, too, Saturday.

One of America’s top Ryder Cup players drenched himself in red, white and blue — including the pants with the “USA” logo that he wore at Hazeltine last year — then plowed his way through Erin Hills for a thirdround 7-under-par 65 to finish at 8 under.

It would have been the round of the day had Justin Thomas not shot 63, matching the best number ever posted at a major.

Reed, 26, who has posted six wins and earned seven points for the U.S. over the past two Ryder Cups, has not had the same success at the majors. He’s never had a top-10 finish.

At four strokes behind leader Brian Harman, he’s is in the mix now, in large part, he thinks, because he didn’t press too hard.

“My first two years, every time I got to the majors, I worked too hard Monday through Wednesday, and by Saturday, I was tired,” he said. “And then, also, I was living and dying by every golf shot, every putt and everything. Coming into this year, I was just like, ‘It’s another golf tournament. Show up. Do what you do on a normal event and just play golf.’”

The lower his score went, the more he got noticed. Walking down the fairways to shouts of “Captain America” and “USA, USA,” Reed strung together three straight birdies on holes 14 through 16 to get to 8 under.

“That’s really all I could ask for, is get myself in a position where if I go out and have a good round tomorrow, I win a golf tournament,” Reed said.

Amateur hour: Cameron Champ got off to a rough start in the third round. Scottie Scheffler was sailing along until he ran into trouble on No. 18.

The last two amateurs at Erin Hills had quite a day. Champ used a strong back nine to escape with a 1-over 73, and Scheffler closed with a triple bogey for a 71. Champ was 4 under, two shots ahead of Scheffler.

Scheffler and Champ played together during a couple of youth tournaments. Scheffler plays for the University of Texas, Champ at Texas A&M. The competition for low amateur is a friendly one.

“Obviously I want to be low am,” Champ said. “Me and Scottie are great buddies. I’m just going to play my game and at the end of the day whatever the score is it’s going to be.”