Patrick Reed and Martin Laird share first-round lead at The Barclays
Saturday 27 August 2016 15:47, UK
Patrick Reed put himself on course to cement a Ryder Cup place as he earned a share of the lead with Martin Laird after the opening round of The Barclays in New York.
Reed, who currently occupies the eighth and final place in the qualifying standings for Davis Love's US team, fired a faultless five-under 66 while Scottish ace Laird also kept a bogey off his card at the feared Bethpage Black course.
World No 1 Jason Day is just two shots off the pace, while Rory McIlroy again endured putting problems despite recovering from an uncertain start to salvage a level-par 71.
Reed started at the 10th and parred his first 10 holes before finally getting a birdie putt to drop at the second, and he followed that with a superb second to 15 feet at the long fourth which he converted for eagle.
The 26-year-old atoned for a poor pitch at the sixth with a long-range putt for another gain, and a two-putt birdie at the next lifted him into the outright lead.
Reed's clubhouse target was soon matched by the big-hitting Laird, who carded four birdies in six holes in an outward 32 although he managed to pick up only one further stroke at the 16th.
JB Holmes slipped from seventh to ninth in the US Ryder Cup standings after missing the cut at last week's Wyndham Championship, but he bounced back with an impressive six-birdie 67 to earn a share of third with fellow Ryder Cup hopeful Rickie Fowler, Argentine Emiliano Grillo and Kevin Kisner.
Fowler followed birdies at the fifth and sixth with an eagle at the next, but his momentum stalled with a bogey at the ninth, a shot which he regained with a superb 30-foot putt for his lone birdie of the back nine on the 14th.
Day, making his first appearance since finishing just a shot behind Jimmy Walker at the PGA Championship, birdied three of his last seven holes to return a solid 68, while Luke Donald continued his recent encouraging form with a four-birdie 69.
US Open champion Dustin Johnson, another high-profile absentee from the Olympic Games, bogeyed his first two holes before recovering to post a 70, while McIlroy missed a couple of very short putts but still managed to stay at even on the day.
McIlroy, armed with a new flat-stick after a putting performance he described as "pathetic" at Baltusrol last month, missed from five feet at the 14th - his fifth - and he three-putted the next and dropped another shot at 16.
But he started to repair the damage with a confidence-boosting birdie at the second, and he made easy work of the par-five fourth and seventh holes before a tentative stab from barely four feet at the eighth cost him another bogey.
"It was okay, it was difficult conditions out there," McIlroy said. "I felt like I could have been a few better, but I missed a couple of short ones. I hit the ball pretty well tee to green and anything under par this afternoon is a good score.
"I can get back out there in hopefully better conditions and with better greens I can post something in the 60s. I felt par was a fair reflection of how I played."
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Also at level par is defending FedExCup champion Jordan Spieth, who moved smoothly to three under after seven holes but bogeys at 16 and 18 capped a wayward back nine which featured a number of missed fairways.
Meanwhile, Justin Rose arrived at Bethpage as Olympic champion, but he dropped three straight shots early on and stumbled to a 73 - two over par.
