Patrick Reed Hospitalized — Will He Make The Ryder Cup Team?

The latest news regarding Patrick Reed isn’t good — the 2018 Masters champion is in the Methodist Hospital at Texas Medical Center in Reed’s home town of Houston.  Reed has been diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia — what is commonly called double-pneumonia.

He withdrew from the final regular season event — the Wyndham, citing an ankle injury but things must have been a lot more serious given the latest news.  Reed was knocked out of last week’s Northern Trust and is a scratch from this week’s BMW, the second stop in the FedEx playoffs.

Reed currently sits at No. 26 on the points list and if the right guys play well in Maryland this week at Caves Valley, he could be knocked out of the Tour Championship at East Lake, even if he was recovered enough to show up.

Which now brings the Ryder Cup selections into play.

Captain Steve Stricker’s automatic qualifiers are Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Tony Finau in that order.  Stricker will have six captain’s picks and the way things sit today — Xander Schauffele is No. 7, he looks like a lock, as does Jordan Spieth at No. 8.  From there it could be tricky.  Harris English is ninth with Reed 10th followed by Pat Cantlay, Daniel Berger, Webb Simpson and Scottie Scheffler in that order.

Stricker has his work cut out for him.  With the Koepka-DeChambeau non-love affair, the team room dynamics could be challenging.  And then there’s the lingering question — if Stricker makes Reed a captain’s pick — who does he pair Reed with?  Reed threw a hissy-fit when he wasn’t paired with Spieth at the 2018 Ryder Cup and created all sorts of team-room drama.

Then there’s the question of Reed making it and actually playing at the Tour Championship.  If he misses out, he will have gone more than 40 days without playing in competition.

First and foremost comes Reed’s health and that, right now, remains the x-factor.

U.S. Ryder Cup Standings:

Collin Morikawa Feeling Better After Back Injury:

Collin Morikawa wasn’t around last weekend at the Northern Trust.  The regular season FedEx points winner unceremoniously missed the 36-hole cut with rounds of 74-70 at Liberty National.

But the disturbing news from Morikawa last week was his physical health.  He revealed that he has an ailing back — a pulled muscle to be exact.  He said he hurt it during the first round of the Olympic competition in Tokyo.

“That’s gone. It was healing through Memphis (at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude), but I was hitting these slap-cuts and then Wednesday of last week I pinched (a nerve) in my back, it was completely different.”  Morikawa’s injury left him unable to practice before heading to The Northern Trust.

Morikawa also said he considered not playing the playoff opener. “Monday was interesting because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to swing,” he said. But his back seemed to improve with each day, and he was confident heading into Thursday’s first round.  “I felt like I was OK, but once you tee it up on Thursday you figure out what the real issues are,” Morikawa said.

On Tuesday, Morikawa practiced at Caves Valley for the BMW.  He’s still hurting a bit.

“We’re working our way,” Morikawa said. “I mean, there are still some things I need to stretch out to get in a little better position. But at least I know what feels I need to have now, which aren’t feels that are alien to me, they’re normal, I just haven’t felt them in a month.”

Dustin Johnson Not Certain About New Driver:

Dustin Johnson was still trying out drivers on Tuesday at Caves Valley, trying to settle on one to use on Thursday when the BMW gets underway.

D.J. had five sitting with him on the practice range.  “I think I found one that I like,” Johnson said as he left the range.  But later, Keith Sharbaro, the onsite club guy for TaylorMade, revealed that D.J., in fact, hadn’t made up his mind.

CBS analyst Sir Nick Faldo was dumbfounded that D.J. didn’t have a backup driver at his disposal.  “I don’t even play anymore and I have a backup driver,” said Faldo.

Last Men In, Last Men Out Of BMW Field:

One of the biggest moves last week at the Northern Trust came from Keith Mitchell.  He came into the tournament at No. 101 on the FedEx points list.  On Sunday, he made a winning move, so to speak.  He birdied the final three holes to get to 13-under and that was good enough to jump him all the way to 64th and into this week’s field.  “I’ll need another really good tournament at the BMW,” said Mitchell, as he, like everyone else, wants that top 30 and a trip to East Lake next week.

Harry Higgs ended as No. 69 while Phil Mickelson was the last man in at No. 70.

Tom Hoge made a huge move, jumping from 108th all the way up to No. 48.  Harold Varner III went from 72 to No. 56 and is hoping for a good enough showing this week to take him to East Lake for the first time in his career.  Erik Van Rooyen, who played in the final threesome Monday with Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith, jumped from No. 76 up to No. 45.

Matthew Wolff was 59th heading into the Northern Trust but missed the cut and is out of the playoffs — he was unlucky No. 71.  Seamus Power went into the Northern Trust at 69th.  He fell out, finished 72nd.

Tony Finau (of course) Is New Points Leader:

With the lop-sided, 2,000-to-the-winner for playoffs, naturally, Tony Finau jumped to the No. 1 spot with 3,348 points.  Jon Rahm is second with 2,763, Cam Smith third with 2,739.

Regular season leaded, Collin Morikawa dropped from first to sixth (he missed the cut at NT) with 2,171.

Up-To-Date FedEx Standings Heading Into BMW (Click here):

Thursday’s BMW Tee Times and Groups (All players start from first tee):