Power Rankings: WGC-Mexico Championship

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Patrick Reed couldn’t remember the last time he went 10 days without touching a golf club. When pressed for an answer, he jokingly replied, “1990.â€� That was the year he was born. It was difficult to do, but Reed needed to step away from the game this spring. He is known for being a passionate player, but he’d become lethargic on the course and frustrated with his results. His clubhead speed was down and the ball wasn’t flying where he anticipated. He took a three-week break from the TOUR, including that 10-day stretch where he didn’t touch a club, to try and regain the energy that made Captain America one of the TOUR’s most fiery competitors. Related: Final leaderboard | FedExCup standings | What’s in Reed’s bag? The plan paid off with Reed’s first PGA TOUR victory in 16 months. He came out on top during a final round Sunday that was a back-and-forth struggle between several players. His final-round 69 was enough for him to keep the one-stroke advantage that he started the day with. Reed finished at 16-under 268 at Liberty National Golf Club, one shot ahead of Abraham Ancer. With the win, Reed jumped from 50th to second in the FedExCup standings. He also re-insterted his name into the Presidents Cup conversation. Reed has qualified for the TOUR Championship and represented the United States in every year since 2014. His path back to the winner’s circle actually started with that break in May. His family vacationed in the Hamptons during his self-imposed hiatus. He was surrounded by some of the world’s best golf courses, but Reed happily filled his days playing with his two kids and spending time with his wife. Even the backyard of their rented manse had the perfect dimensions for a driving range: 310 yards by 50 yards of manicured grass. Reed stayed at the same house during last year’s U.S. Open, and the owner shaved a strip of short grass so that he could use the grounds as a practice facility. He had no desire to do the same this year, though. “I didn’t want to see the golf clubs,â€� he said. His enthusiasm quickly returned when he got back on the course. It helped that he eagled his first hole after his break, the first hole at National Golf Links of America. He hit driver to 6 feet. “I come back and I’m hitting the ball farther. I have a clear picture on what I’m trying to do and all of a sudden, I come out and I start hitting the ball where it’s supposed to go,â€� Reed said. “I’m starting to think clearly while I’m out there (on the course) and … the game starts turning around.â€� His fifth-place finish at the Rocket Mortgage Classic in June was his first top-10 on the PGA TOUR since October. Two starts later, he finished 10th at The Open Championship. Then he conquered Liberty National with a strong ball-striking performance this week. He finished in the top 10 of Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (2nd), fairways hit (T8), greens in regulation (T5). He’s now converted five of his seven 54-hole leads into victories. He got off to a shaky start Sunday, though. He immediately followed an opening birdie with back-to-back bogeys. He added another bogey on the short par-5 sixth hole. After the next hole, his caddie/brother-in-law, Kessler Karain, reminded him to just keep hitting greens instead of playing too aggressively. Reed made three birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way. He regained a one-stroke lead after his birdie at the short par-3 14th. Rahm had just three-putted the same hole and was on his way to a bogey at No. 15, as well. Those two miscues dropped him into a tie for third place with Harold Varner III. Reed gave another undercut fist pump after holing a 9-footer for par on 15. A perfect pitch on the drivable 16th left him with a tap-in for birdie to take a two-shot lead. Pars on the final two holes were enough to hold off Ancer, who birdied 17 to pull within a shot as they headed to the 18th tee. This was Reed’s first victory since his triumph at last year’s Masters. Some players struggle after their first major because they lose a little fire after winning their first major. Reed felt like his win at Augusta National had the opposite effect. “I almost felt like I pressed harder and worked harder and tried harder and therefore, it made me physically and mentally drained,â€� he said. “I kind of went the wrong direction and that’s why I felt like I needed the break.â€� Reed’s winless streak hit its deepest depths in Florida, just as his Masters defense was fast approaching. There was a three-round stretch when he shot a final-round 78 at THE PLAYERS Championship, then fired 77-75 to miss the cut at the following week’s Valspar Championship. He was spotted working with swing instructor David Leadbetter on the range at that event, but he’s since resumed working with solely his longtime coach, Kevin Kirk. This was Reed’s seventh PGA TOUR win. The 29-year-old now owns a major, World Golf Championships and two FedExCup Playoffs events. He also won THE NORTHERN TRUST in 2016, when he finished a career-best fifth in the FedExCup. In two weeks, he’ll make his sixth consecutive appearance in the TOUR Championship. Now he’s trying to extend another streak. Reed has appeared on every U.S. team since 2014. Reed started the week ranked 17th in the U.S. Presidents Cup standings. He’s now 12th in the standings. The top eight after next week’s BMW Championship will earn automatic berths on the team that will travel to Royal Melbourne in December. Reed would need to win next week as well to qualify for the team. At worst, he’s placed himself in the running for one of the four captain’s picks. Those will be announced after the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions. The Presidents Cup was ever-present as Reed competed at Liberty National. The view of the Statue of Liberty stoked the flames of a player who enjoys the moniker of Captain America. Liberty National was the site of the last Presidents Cup, the United States’ thrashing of an overmatched International side. And Reed held off a potential Presidents Cup foe in Mexico’s Ancer. They were paired together in Sunday’s final group. “The biggest thing for me was … to just focus on the golf I’m playing because at the end of the day, if you play good golf, that all takes care of itself,â€� Reed said.

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NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — Tiger Woods had his lowest round since his last victory more than five years ago, an 8-under 62 with birdie chances on all but two greens and only one bad swing all day. All it got him at the BMW Championship was a tie for the lead Thursday with Rory McIlroy. Woods did his part in the scorching air at Aronimink that made the 7,267-yard course feel like a pitch-and-putt. He didn’t hit anything longer than a 9-iron into the par 4s and didn’t miss a green until his 14th hole. He came within inches of chipping that one in. “Got off to a better start than I have most of the season. And as of right now,” he said, pausing to smile, “I’m one back. Just the way it goes.” It didn’t go perfectly for McIlroy, either. He was at 9 under when Woods finished, only to make consecutive bogeys and finish with a two-putt birdie for a 62. They had a one-shot lead over Xander Schauffele. “It was one of those days where it was out there,” McIlroy said. McIlroy could have seen a day like this coming. He finished his pro-am round with a 27 on his final nine, and then reached 9 under through 14 holes. That’s a stretch of 17 under par over 23 holes, even if only 14 of them counted in the tournament. Woods generated the biggest buzz, though. He had failed to break part in the opening round at 10 of his last 11 tournaments. This was a big exception. Woods returned to the same putter he has used to win 13 of his 14 majors — his third different putter in as many weeks — and saw some familiar results. He opened with a 20-foot birdie putt at No. 10, shot 29 on the back nine, and then rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 1 to reach 7 under through 10 holes. He didn’t make many more, but he had chances. Woods was posing on his tee shot at the par-3 fifth, the sun glaring into him, and he couldn’t figure out immediately where it went. “Is that long?” he asked his caddie. “I thought it was perfect.” Everything else felt that way to him at that point. His only bogey came at the par-3 eighth, by far the most difficult pin on the course. Woods was between clubs, went with a soft 4-iron and yanked it into the rough. He pitched to 18 feet, a good shot up a ridge and onto a green that sloped away from him. The putt caught the lip. Woods and McIlroy still had to hit the shots and make the putts. The wide fairways and temperatures in the 90s that allowed the golf ball to seemingly fly forever made for such low scoring that 48 players in the 69-man field broke par. Rickie Fowler opened with a 65 in his first tournament since the PGA Championship, and at times it felt like he was getting lapped playing alongside Woods. Jordan Spieth couldn’t keep it in play off the tee and didn’t get under par until his 15th hole. He birdied three of the last four for a 67. Peter Uihlein, who only advanced to the third FedExCup Playoffs event with birdies on his last three holes on the TPC Boston last week, had a 64 to join a group that included FedExCup champion Justin Thomas. McIlroy was on the second green when he looked over at Woods, who had just hit wedge to 4 inches for birdie on the seventh hole and was waiting for the green to clear on the par-3 eighth. The crowd was much thinner for McIlroy, but those fans saw quite a show. He holed an 8-foot birdie putt on No. 2, part of a run six straight birdies. When he was 9 under with four holes left — the last one a par 5 — he started thinking about breaking 60. Instead, he missed the fairway on his next two tee shots, took bogey from about the same spot Woods was on No. 8, and those hopes were gone. “You don’t get many opportunities to break 60 and today was one of them,” he said. “And I didn’t capitalize. I’m not going to say it stings too bad because I’d much rather shoot 62 today and win the golf tournament Sunday than shoot 59 today and maybe not win.”

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Exorcising decades worth of Ryder Cup demons, the younger U.S. Team run away with it and post a gaudy, historic final score of 19-9, perhaps signaling a change in the balance of power. Where do the Americans go from here? For more on that, click here. As for Whistling Straits, one might have guessed a blowout was coming. The U.S. Team had 11 of the top 16 players in the Official World Golf Ranking; the European Team had just three. With so many highlights for the Americans, the only question is which ones stood out most. Was it Dustin Johnson, the oldest member of the U.S. Team at 37, going 5-0-0? How about Tony Finau holing putts from all over as he and Harris English beat Shane Lowry and Rory McIlroy in Four-ball on Saturday? The did-I-just-see-that Brooks/Bryson hug? Here are the superlatives from the week in Wisconsin. BEST PLAYER Dustin Johnson became just the fourth U.S. player to go 5-0-0 in a Ryder Cup. He joined Arnold Palmer (1967), Gardner Dickinson (1967) and Larry Nelson (1979). Meanwhile, five Europeans didn’t win a single match. MOST UNFORGETTABLE SHOTS Bryson DeChambeau’s 417-yard drive at the par-5 fifth on Friday afternoon, setting up a 72-yard pitch and an eagle as he and Scottie Scheffler tied super-duo Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm. “Well, I knew if it was a little downwind, I could take a unique line, and I luckily was able to have that wind today,” said DeChambeau, who went 2-0-1. It was 20-plus, and I said to myself, all right, I have to aim at the green, so I did. I just aimed at the green and bombs away.” DeChambeau driving the first green Sunday, a poke of 354 yards – and making the eagle putt. Jordan Spieth’s moon shot from below the 17th green, the trajectory of which looked like a rocket, after which he did well not to break an ankle or fall in Lake Michigan. “Once I started moving, I was like, I’ve got to keep moving until I find a flat spot,” he said. “Yeah, it’s kind of one of those shots that you practice as a kid for fun, and you don’t ultimately want to have it.” Tyrrell Hatton’s seven-foot birdie putt on 18 as he and Jon Rahm salvaged a tie against Bryson DeChambeau and Scottie Scheffler in a Four-ball match Friday afternoon. Shane Lowry’s 11-footer for par as he and Tyrrell Hatton preserved a 1-up victory over Harris English and Tony Finau in a Four-ball match Saturday afternoon. BEST VISUAL Paul Casey climbing into the stands behind the first tee to dance and sing with European fans. The two teams lined up to shake hands after the match had been decided Sunday. Lake Michigan. WORST 360-DEGREE LIP-OUT Viktor Hovland at the 10th hole as he tied his match against Collin Morikawa. Shane Lowry at the ninth hole in his 4-and-2 singles loss to Patrick Cantlay. Jordan Spieth at the 13th hole in his and Brooks Koepka’s Four-ball loss to Garcia and Rahm. BEST START Captain’s pick Scottie Scheffler, ranked 21st in the world, making birdies on five of his first six holes on the way to a 4-and-3 win over world No. 1 Jon Rahm. “Definitely nice to get off to that start,” said Scheffler, who went 2-0-1. “You know, Jon has had a really good week so far, so to get off to that start and put him down early was big.” Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, U.S. anchor team for the Friday morning Foursomes, went 5 up through five in their 5-and-3 victory over Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter. “I don’t know if anyone could have beat Xander and Patrick today,” McIlroy said. BEST TEAM Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm went 3-0-1. “To be able to win those matches with him the way we did it, that is undoubtedly the most fun I’ve had on a golf course by far,” Rahm said. Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa went 3-0-0. (They were split up Friday afternoon.) Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele went 2-0-0 in Foursomes. BEST NEW NICKNAME “Patty Ice” Cantlay became “No Hat Pat” as he went 3-0-1 for the U.S. BEST TEAM WITHIN A TEAM Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia, the new Spanish Armada, went 3-0-1 Daniel Berger and Brooks Koepka, Florida State products, went 1-1-0 MOST SPORTSMANLIKE GESTURE Harris English, after losing his ball in the hazard, conceded his singles match to Lee Westwood, after which they laughingly helped each other climb the steep bank to the 18th green. MOST HEARTFELT MOMENT Rory McIlroy, who had gone 0-3 and been benched the first two days before winning his singles match over Xander Schauffele, crying at the end of a long and difficult week. BEST INDICATION OF FUTURE U.S. SUCCESS U.S. Captain Steve Stricker’s U.S. Team featured six rookies and eight players under 30. What’s more, all 12 American players won at least one match going into the Sunday singles. All of which would seem to portend good things for the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, and beyond. QUOTES OF THE WEEK “We wanted to send a message.” – Patrick Cantlay “I think it’s the fastest I ever got over losing something.” – Xander Schauffele, upon seeing the heavily red leaderboards, signifying a U.S. rout, after Rory McIlroy beat him 2 and 1 on Sunday. “I think I’m emotional, as well, because I wanted to do this for Padraig, too.” – Rory McIlroy COMCAST BUSINESS TOUR TOP 10 The Comcast Business TOUR TOP 10 highlights and rewards the extraordinary level of play required to earn a spot in the TOP 10 at the conclusion of the FedExCup Regular Season as determined by the FedExCup standings. The competition recognizes and awards the most elite in golf.

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