Dressed in a blue suit with an American tie, he banged once, twice. and on the third try, he broke the gavel.
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Reed, who sits eighth in the Cup standings, is vying with players such as Brandt Snedeker, Zach Johnson, Bubba Watson and Olympic bronze medallist Matt Kuchar for those spots.
The start of the FedEx Cup playoffs, with a $10 million bonus waiting at the end, was more about a cup that doesn’t pay a dime.
The American now occupies the eighth and final place in the qualifying standings as he tries to qualify for Davis Love III’s team.
Fowler, 27, has been a member of two US teams, first as a captain’s pick in 2010 and then an automatic qualifier in 2014.
RYDER RAMIFICATIONS: Fowler looked like a shoo-in to be on the Ryder Cup team when he started the year in great form. “But at the end of the day, it’s trying to get better and play this tournament because, if I play well, that means the other guys have to play even better to catch me”. Pointing to his head, Day said, “It’s the guy that manages up here the best is going to win”.
Reed, who now occupies the eighth and final place in the qualifying standings for Davis Love’s U.S. team, fired a faultless five-under 66 while Scottish ace Laird also kept a bogey off his card at the feared Bethpage Black course.
World number one and defending champion Jason Day of Australia meanwhile was two off the pace, after a 68.
“I’m in a position where I’m kind of put in a corner where I need to either earn my way on the team, or at least prove that I should be there”, Fowler said. Asked to project how that might go, the notoriously fiery Reed, who played well two years ago in his rookie Ryder Cup appearance at Gleneagles in Scotland, shook his head and said, “It’s going to be nuts”. Even in the off year, you’re thinking about it. That was the whole reason playing last week, trying to get more points. “It would be nice to have a chance to make that team without having to get picked”.
McIlroy, armed with a new flat-stick after a putting performance he described as “pathetic” at Baltusrol last month, missed from five feet at the 14th – his fifth – and he three-putted the next and dropped another shot at 16. He has made his points mainly through the majors a tie for fourth at the Masters, third at the British Open but as he got closer to making the team, the pressure has increased.
Ko has won the event three of the last four years, the first two as an amateur. Grillo also said he keeps adding to his game it “doesn’t hurt you”. “Had to stay calm today and tried to let go of the results”, Holmes said.
The Barclays is the start of a four-tournament series in which the field size shrinks until 30 qualify for the finale at the Tour Championship. He is No. 89 in the FedEx Cup, so the first order of business was to be among the top 100 to advance to next week. But a bogey on the ninth was followed by four more on the back nine to leave him seven shots off the pace. Bethpage is relentless, and so was the wind, and when the Texan struggled to find fairways, he started dropping shots. Jordan Spieth had a 71. “I felt like I was hitting the ball well”.
Reigning Open champion Henrik Stenson withdrew from the tournament after shooting a 74 because of a sore knee. Stegmaier is No. 101, so his season is over.
Olympic gold medalist and world No. 9 Justin Rose of England shot a five-bogey 73 and is tied for 69th at 73. Darren Clarke makes three selections on Tuesday.
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Soren Kjeldsen, Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry, Thomas Pieters and Luke Donald are all somewhere in the conversation, too, however.
