JERSEY CITY, N.J. — Patrick Reed withdrew from the Northern Trust tournament on Thursday morning before the first round citing a knee injury, hurting his chances to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team without a captain’s pick.
Reed, who won the tournament two years ago at Liberty National, also withdrew from last week’s Wyndham Championship, although it is not believed to be for the same reason.
Ranked ninth in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings, next week’s BMW Championship is the last chance to earn a spot among the top six automatic qualifiers. U.S. captain Steve Stricker will then make six at-large selections following the Tour Championship in early September.
Reed, 31, who has played in three Ryder Cups, has a 7-3-2 record in 12 matches, one of the few American players with a winning record. He had a poor showing at the 2018 Ryder Cup in France where he lost two team matches with Tiger Woods. But he improved his singles record to 3-0.
Players earn 1.5 points per every dollar in prize money earned in regular PGA Tour events, and Reed trails No. 6 Xander Schauffele by 1,545 points.
Going back to the U.S. Open, Reed had played seven out of eight weeks through the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, including The Open in England and the Olympics in Japan.
He is ranked 17th in the world and 22nd in the FedEx Cup standings. He won his ninth PGA Tour title earlier this year at the Farmers Insurance Open.