Patrick Reed will miss this week’s US PGA playoff event while recovering from double pneumonia and the 2018 Masters champion could miss the season-ending Tour Championship as a result.
The 31-year-old, nicknamed “Captain America” for his passion while playing for the US Ryder Cup squad, will also miss out on any chance of qualifying for an automatic US roster spot for next month’s Ryder Cup in Wisconsin.
Reed missed last week’s PGA event at Liberty National with an ankle injury and while home in Houston had been hospitalized with severe pneumonia.
‘The good news is my ankle is OK,’ Reed said in a statement. ‘The bad news is I’ve been in the hospital with bilateral pneumonia. I’m on the road to recovery, once I’m cleared from the doctors. I look forward to returning.’
Reed, who had been a last-minute US Olympic replacement for Bryson DeChambeau, sprained his ankle at Memphis the week after the Tokyo Games tournament.
At 26th in the season points chase entering this week’s second playoff event, Reed could fall out of the top 30 and miss qualifying for next week’s Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta by not playing at this week’s BMW Championship at Caves Valley in suburban Baltimore.
Five automatic points spots for the US Ryder Cup squad captained by Steve Stricker have been settled with Collin Morikawa, Dustin Johnson, DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas having sealed their spots.
Tony Finau, who won the Northern Trust on Monday, leads a fight for the last automatic spot with qualifying to end on Sunday.
That means Reed will need one of six captain’s picks from Stricker to play at Whistling Straits.
©️ Agence France-Presse
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