The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Reed gets win in FedEx opener
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 presummer break, Reed finally found the result he was looking Aug. 11 at 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 — two for birdie, one for par — to overtake Jon Rahm, hold off Abraham Ancer, close with a 2-under 69 and win the FedEx Cup opener.
It was his first victory in 16 months over 41 tournaments worldwide dating to the 2018 Masters.
“The longer that time period is in between wins, it just makes it tougher,” Reed 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 Ws, and no better place that 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. His place in the Tour Championship is secure. His odds of 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 decided after next week. Reed went to No. 12 and he would have to win the BMW Championship next week to qualify.