PGA Tour, Web.com TourBrian KeoghThe Barclays, Shane Lowry, Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy, Seamus Power1 Comment

Lowry KO in FedExCup; Reed wins Barclays; McIlroy 31st; Power move

PGA Tour, Web.com TourBrian KeoghThe Barclays, Shane Lowry, Patrick Reed, Rory McIlroy, Seamus Power1 Comment
Lowry KO in FedExCup; Reed wins Barclays; McIlroy 31st; Power move
Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed

Absentee Shane Lowry was eliminated from the FedExCup playoffs and Rory McIlroy fell two spots to 38th as Patrick Reed took The Barclays at Bethpage State Park to soar to the top of the standings and claim his Ryder Cup spot.

Reed became the third youngest player in the last decade after Jordan Spieth and McIlroy to win five PGA Tour titles, carding a one under 70 in front of raucous New York fans in take the first of four FedExCup playoff events by one stroke from Sean O'Hair and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo on nine under par.

McIlroy dropped three shots late in his last three holes for a 73 that left him tied 31st on level par and he is now 38th in the standings with the top 30 qualifying for the fourth and final event of the playoffs, the Tour Championship.

It was also a bad week for Lowry, 87th in the FedExCup starting the week, as his decision to seek  Ryder Cup favour in the Made in Denmark backfired in that he played averagely there and was leapfrogged by 15 players in the US.

Not only where all the automatic European Ryder Cup places allocated before Lowry made the trip, he ended up two places outside the Top 100 who progress to this week's Deutsche Bank Championship in Boston.

He wasn't the only one to have a bad week. 

Rickie Fowler lost the lead, the tournament and a guaranteed spot on the US Ryder Cup team as he slipped to a 74 and tied seventh.

It looked as though Zach Johnson had played his way out of the eight automatic US qualifiers as he finished 49th.

But Fowler squandered a chance to earn the final spot when he shot 39 on the back nine with two bogeys and a double bogey over his last four holes.

"Very disappointing," Fowler said. "Just made a couple bad swings at the wrong time."

Sunday was the final day for Americans to earn automatic spots on the team with Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Phil Mickelson, US PGA winner Jimmy Walker and rookie Brooks Koepka all locked in before the Barclays.

Reed's win saw him move from eighth to fourth with Brandt Snedeker and Zach Johnson ending up seventh and eighth.

Fowler had a two-shot lead early in the final round and "only" needed to finish alone in third to overtake Johnson.

He was two shots ahead of third place with four holes to go but foundered and admitted the failure "will hurt" though he can still win a wildcard.

Davis Love III still has four captain's picks over the next three weeks. He will make three of them after the BMW Championship on September 12, and the final pick after the Tour Championship, the Sunday before Ryder Cup week.

Bubba Watson closed with a 66 and tied for 13th to move into ninth place, ahead of J.B. Holmes, Fowler and Matt Kuchar.

Third Top 10 of the season for Power - Secures card

Web.com Tour — Seamus Power finished tied 11th in the WinCo Foods Portland Open presented by Kraft Heinz in Oregon to move up one spot to ninth in the standings.
The West Waterford man, an impressive tied 15th in the Olympic Games earlier this month, closed with a 70 to finish on 11 under par, winning $11,400 to take his season's earnings to $209,590.
It was a third top 10 finish for Power, who is guaranteed promotion to the PGA Tour for the 2016-17 season and now wants to climb as high as he can on the money list to improve his chances of more starts next term.
Ryan Brehm (68) win the tournament at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club by a stroke on 15 under par.