History would tell you that there will be in-fighting on some level with the U.S. Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits this week, but one of the country’s most polarizing golfers does not think those issues will arise again at this year’s tournament.
Patrick Reed, who was surprisingly left off the 2021 Ryder Cup team by captain Steve Stricker, was asked this week about the narrative that many of the golfers on the U.S. team do not like one another. He doesn’t envision it becoming a factor.
“Honestly, at the end of the day, the captains and assistants will take care of all that,” Reed said, via ESPN’s Bob Harig. “It’s 12 going out there and playing golf. Whether they can’t stand each other, whether they like each other, whatever it actually is, they don’t want to lose a point because of stuff like that.
“They’re not going to let it bother them. They’re going to go out and play, and play the best they can and try to bring the Cup home.”
That is likely Reed’s way of taking the high road. No one would blame him if he felt slighted by not being chosen for the Ryder Cup team. While he is not very well-liked on the PGA Tour, Reed has been excellent at the Ryder Cup. He was the U.S. team’s top point scorer in 2014 and when they won in 2016. He was openly upset in 2018 when Jordan Spieth did not want to play with him, which likely stemmed from a comment Reed made about Spieth before the event that year.
There are other reasons Reed may have been left off the Ryder Cup team this year, but the relationships he has (or doesn’t have) with other golfers was certainly a factor.
Time will tell if Reed’s assessment is accurate. We’ve already seen Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka make an effort to put their differences aside. If the U.S. team can avoid drama, they certainly have the talent to win.
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