FORT WORTH, Texas – After his opening round at the Dean & DeLuca Invitational, Patrick Reed was asked if he knew where he stood on the U.S. Ryder Cup points list.
“Yeah,” he said without hesitation. “I’m ninth.”
It’s an important distinction, considering that only the top eight Americans in the final standings will automatically qualify for Davis Love III’s team at Hazeltine. It’s also a relatively new development for Reed, who dropped a spot last week when Brooks Koepka finished second at the AT&T Byron Nelson.
Reed has a chance to do the same to Koepka this week at Colonial, and he got off to a solid start with a 5-under 65 that left him one shot off the lead. While Reed is eager to make another Ryder Cup appearance, he knows the American standings will only become more volatile as the summer heats up.
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“There’s so many guys that are playing so well, and it’s one of those things where there’s nothing you can control. When you take a week off you almost expect that somebody’s going to jump past you,” Reed said. “I knew going into that week that there was a possibility, and I knew going into Sunday that if Brooks won or finished solo second that he would bump me. But those are things I can’t control.
“Really all I can control is go out and play some golf, and just try to get better with my own game. If I do that, then everything else will take care of itself.”
Reed has gone more than a year since his last victory, but he hasn’t lacked for chances. His eight top-10 finishes are two more than any other player this season, and he is in the mix once more in his home state after a round that included only one bogey and just 27 putts.
“I hope to be there in contention,” he said. “Anytime you’re in there at the end with the back nine, having a chance to win a golf tournament, anything can happen.”