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Patrick Reed withdraws from the Northern Trust with ankle injury, putting Ryder Cup spot in jeopardy

Ryan Young
·Staff writer
·2-min read

Patrick Reed pulled himself out of the first of three FedExCup Playoffs events just hours before he was set to tee off on Thursday, a move that will put his chances of making the Ryder Cup team in jeopardy.

Reed withdrew from the Northern Trust on Thursday morning, citing an ankle injury.

The 31-year-old also withdrew from last week’s Wyndham Championship.

While Reed isn’t out on the course this week at Liberty National, he is safe to make next week’s BMW Championship. Reed currently sits at No. 22 in the FedExCup standings, well inside the top 75 that make it to Caves Valley next week.

Only the top 30 will qualify for the Tour Championship in two weeks, however, meaning Reed will almost certainly need to compete in Maryland if he wants a shot in Atlanta.

Reed has won nine times in his career on Tour, including earlier this season at the Farmers Insurance Open. He has six top-10 finishes so far this season, including a T8 finish at the Masters and a T10 finish at the rescheduled Masters in September.

Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm are tied for the lead at the Northern Trust after they both fired 8-under 63 in the opening round.

Will Patrick Reed still make the Ryder Cup team?

Though Reed’s absence from the Northern Trust doesn’t immediately impact his spot in the FedExCup, it could play a big role in his chances to land on the Ryder Cup team later this fall.

Reed is currently ninth in the U.S. Ryder Cup team standings, and is 1,544.71 points back from Xander Schauffele — who is currently in the sixth and final automatic spot.

Qualifying for the Ryder Cup ends after next week’s BMW Championship. Players earn 1.5 points per every $1,000 they earn in regular PGA Tour events this season and two points for every $1,000 they earn in major championships.

If Reed — who is currently ranked No. 17 in the Official World Golf Rankings — can’t earn an automatic bid, team captain Steve Stricker can still select him for the team with one of his captain’s picks.

Reed has played in the past three Ryder Cups, and holds a 7-3-2 record and a perfect 3-0 record in singles matches.

The Ryder Cup will take place next month at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

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