Patrick Reed had a trophy, a clear shot at the richest payoff in golf and a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
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Fowler’s best finish this season was a runner-up at the Phoenix Open in February, when he lost to Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama in a playoff.
Never short on confidence, Reed picked an opportune time to close out a victory drought he felt had lingered far too long, and he booked his ticket to Hazeltine in the process.
Reed overcame an early two-shot deficit and built a big enough lead on the back nine that some nervous shots and sloppy play didn’t keep him from winning for the first time since the 2015 opener at Kapalua. If Love is paying attention, Fowler will be his first call because despite what happened on the back nine at the Black on Sunday, Fowler deserves to be on the USA team when the Americans face the Europeans Sept. 27-Oct. “If you go and win, it takes care of everything else”.
The way Fowler finished only leads to two weeks of uncertainty.
Rickie Fowler stumbled late on Sunday at Bethpage Black.
I wasnt trying to get a decent finish, Fowler said.
“I told my caddie once I holed that putt I knew it was going to be a big day for me”, O’Hair said.
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.
And then, Reed described the final moments which puts him among the elite on the PGA tour.
Fowler and Reed had quickly moved to 10 under for the tournament as they reached the seventh hole in the final round, with Grillo just one shot behind on the ninth.
Standing on the 14th hole, Rickie Fowler wasn’t thinking about the Ryder Cup implications of his round. He missed another fairway and took bogey.
Fowler still hasn’t won in four tries as a 54-hole leader on the PGA Tour, and this one might sting. “But it’s only going to make it better for next week”. I saw land in the bunker so I’m thinking, I’m all right.
He finished two shots behind second place, knowing a finish in the top-two would have guaranteed his place in his first Ryder Cup on American soil. Ultimately, 12 players make the team, with captain Love, who has four wild-card picks still to make.
Reed, who finished at 9-under 275, wasnt the only player who felt like a big victor.
The top 100 players in the FedEx Cup standings advance to next weekend s Deutsche Bank Championship, the second playoff event at the 7,207-yard, par-71 course in Boston, Massachusetts.
Grillo birdied the final hole for a 69 and moved to No. 6.
Even so, Reed could sense another tournament slipped away.
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Reed was delighted with his win but acknowledged his game needed work after he recorded bogeys at the 16th and 18th holes.
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Scott shot even-par 71 on Sunday, with a bogey-bogey start after inaccuracy off the tee sapping his confidence. Bernhard Langer made a 3-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff with Woody Austin and Kevin Sutherland to win the PGA Tour Champions’ Boeing Classic in Snoqualmie, Washington, for the second time.
