The calls for Patrick Reed to make his return to the American Ryder Cup team have ramped up after he won LIV Golf Dallas on Sunday to continue his impressive form in the build-up to Bethpage.
There was a stage when Patrick Reed appeared to be destined to be a mainstay of the USA Ryder Cup team for years to come after his performances in both 2014 and 2016. His efforts earned him the nickname Captain America.
Reed was on the team in 2018, but had a much tougher time at Le Golf National. But that remains his most recent Ryder Cup appearance.
The 34-year-old went into LIV Golf Dallas this past week still awaiting his first win since making the jump from the PGA Tour. Reed was extremely frustrated to have played 40 LIV events without winning. But that run is now over, after his brilliant putt to win the playoff at Maridoe.
The shot Patrick Reed hit at the Ryder Cup which led to the loudest roar Jordan Spieth has ever heard
Reed has got a huge task on his hands to qualify for the Ryder Cup team. But having also finished third at The Masters, Reed is arguably staking a claim to Keegan Bradley ahead of Bethpage in September.
Certainly, it would be a huge boost for USA if Reed could rediscover the magic he produced in 2014 and 2016.
He was outstanding alongside Jordan Spieth. And speaking after their victory at Hazeltine nine years ago, Spieth suggested that Reed holing out for eagle on Saturday proved to be the defining image from the week in his mind.
“It’s easy. When Patrick holed his shot yesterday on number six, I saw a picture that was captured of him doing whatever he does that you saw about 25 times this week with Kessler, his brother-in-law and caddie, with his hands up, and I’m in a 40-yard dash, with my putter flying in the air, back to him from 30 yards up,” he said.
“I’m definitely going to get something with that picture and it’s going to be hanging somewhere at my house because that was just a moment that I’ve never heard a roar that loud in my life. And I mean, what joy that was to watch that ball trickle back and then everyone start to slowly stand up. And they thought it was going to miss and then it went in and everyone did the Phil six-inch jump in the stands and they just went nuts. And I don’t know if I’ve ever run faster in my life.
“The only regret is we should have chest-bumped. That’s what we were going to do and we didn’t. But we did that today when we saw each other. That’s the moment this week for me.”
How Patrick Reed and Jordan Spieth performed together as a partnership in the Ryder Cup
Admittedly, it is hard to imagine Reed and Spieth’s partnership being reunited in New York. They did not play together in 2018, and it is difficult to see both men doing enough to earn picks from Bradley.
Their record together however, is outstanding. They won four of their seven matches together, while they were only beaten once.
Reed was the only American to go unbeaten at the 2014 Ryder Cup, while his match with Rory McIlroy two years later was one of the all-time greats, with Reed emerging victorious.
Winning LIV Golf Dallas is unlikely to see Reed secure his ticket to Bethpage on its own. However, when you consider everything he did on his first two Ryder Cup starts, there is no question that he should be in the conversation.
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