Rickie Fowler had been one shot ahead of the final round, but couldn’t maintain his lead, finishing equal seventh.
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The victory was the 26-year-old’s first on the PGA Tour since his triumph at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in January 2015, and he had double reason to celebrate in NY, with the triumph also earning him an automatic spot on Davis Love III’s Ryder Cup team.
Asked which was more disappointing to him Sunday, failing to win the tournament or not securing the automatic spot on the Ryder Cup team, Fowler said: “Not closing out the tournament, because that would have taken care of both”. But it’s out of his control – USA captain Davis Love III would have to make him one of his four captain’s picks.
Five of the spots were already clinched going into The Barclays U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, PGA champion Jimmy Walker and Ryder Cup rookie Brooks Koepka.
“I am glad I was finally able to close one off”.
After having just one bogey in the first three rounds, Fowler had his second at the 15th on the final day and then backed it up with a double at the par-3 17th.
Reed had gone 55 tournaments worldwide since starting 2015 with a victory at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. A birdie on No. 12 stretched it two shots, and no one got closer until Reed made bogey on the final hole. His late meltdown sent him to a 74, a tie for seventh and kept him off the Ryder Cup team.
Fowler, who was gutted afterward, said: “It’s not for me to worry about right now”.
Sunday was the final day to earn eight automatic spots on the US team.
Reed closed with a 1-under-par 70 at Bethpage Black for a 9-under 275 total.
The top 70 after next week advance to the third playoff event, with the top 30 going to East Lake for the Tour Championship.
However, he responded with three birdies in the next four holes – including a chip-in on the fifth – and took the lead for the first time when Fowler failed to get up and down from a greenside bunker. This year, the victor will earn $1.53 million and all but guarantee advancement to the next round of the playoffs at the BMW Championships on September 8-11 at Crooked Stick.
The TPC Boston course plays 7,216 yards long and is a par 71. He needed only to finish alone in third place, which was the furthest from his mind as he battled Reed at Bethpage Black.
Singh also won that year’s Deutsche Bank, his last of 34 Tour victories.
South Korea’s Sei Young Kim, a two-time victor this year, was second after a 65.
Zach Johnson doesn’t have to wait by the phone to find out if he’s on another Ryder Cup team.
As the contest came to a climax, three more Americans – Gary Woodland, Sean O’Hair and Ryan Moore – were clustered with Australian Jason Day three shots off the lead but running out of holes.
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Fowler opened The Barclays 12th in American Ryder Cup standings, and he didn’t even need to win to crack the top eight and pave his own way, but he unraveled on the Black course’s hard back nine.
