Patrick Reed was one of the American team’s best performers at the 2014 Ryder Cup and the 26-year-old could find himself with an automatic berth on this year’s team next month at Hazeltine.
Reed moved from just outside automatic qualification for the Ryder Cup team to a spot on the American squad with his tie for 11th at the Travelers Championship last weekend in Connecticut.
Reed jumped two spots in the tightly-packed rankings to the No. 8 slot, just ahead of No. 9 Brandt Snedeker and No. 10 Bubba Watson. Watson, T25 at the Travelers, and the idle Snedeker both dropped a spot in the rankings.
Reed wasn’t the only player to make a dent in the standings.
American team assistant captain Jim Furyk soared up the Travelers leaderboard with his Sunday 58. That was good for a T5, and a move from 21st to 18 in the Ryder Cup standings.
Daniel Berger jumped from 18th to 15th with his tie for fifth at the Travelers. Berger could have moved near the top 10 with a victory. Still, this year’s FedEx St. Jude Classic winner continues to make a strong case as potential captain’s pick if he finishes outside the final eight.
The top five on the roster now look fairly safe, but there still remains a tight race in the points between spots six and 20 with just a few tournaments to play. In addition to deciding the last three qualifying spots, four captain's pick spots are also up for grabs for players who can finish strong this season.
Since the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minn., will be played in an Olympic year (with golf included in the Games for the first time since 1904), there have been some adjustments made to the qualifying calendar for Ryder Cup USA.
Here are the key qualifying dates:
- Sunday, Aug. 28, 2016: The top eight will be finalized at the conclusion of The Barclays, which is scheduled to finish on this date, as opposed to the traditional closing of points at the conclusion of the PGA Championship, which was played in July instead of August in 2016 due to the Olympics. It also affords players an additional two weeks from past years to earn a spot on points.
- Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016: Love will select three of his four Captain's Picks at the conclusion of the BMW Championship, scheduled to end on this day.
- Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016: Love will make his fourth and final Captain's Pick at the conclusion of the Tour Championship, scheduled to end on this day.
