A mass exodus is already underway at LIV Golf, threatening the league’s very existence. However, Golf[dot]com journalist Sean Zak believes that the strongest contender for a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team already left the breakaway league months before its troubles began. The journalist is referring to 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed, who left LIV in January.
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“The first person I think of is Patrick Reed,” Zak told Gary Williams on 5 Clubs. “He’s 36, and it feels like he has earned his second act on the PGA Tour. He will join the first PGA Tour event … in a matter of months. [Reed] has served his suspension. He has a very good chance of winning the Race to Dubai. This feels like he’s … letting things settle and then returning.”
Reed, of course, resigned his PGA Tour membership when he originally joined LIV Golf in June 2022. Because he resigned rather than retaining membership while playing unauthorized events, he avoided direct multi-year fines or suspensions from the PGA Tour at that time. However, he did have to serve a mandatory year-long waiting period, which made him eligible to return to the American circuit in August.
Upon becoming eligible again, Reed could only compete as a non-member, requiring sponsor exemptions or Monday qualifiers to enter fall events, with full PGA Tour membership restoration slated for 2027. He will, however, have to qualify for the spots on the Ryder Cup team, or U.S. captain Jim Furyk will have to pick him. In the meantime, the 36-year-old has been competing on the DP World Tour this season.
Since leaving LIV Golf, Reed has already claimed two victories on the DP World Tour and currently sits second in the Race to Dubai rankings. That puts him in a strong position to become only the second American to win the season-long title. However, he faces stiff competition from Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra and third-ranked Rory McIlroy. Even so, Reed’s performances appear to have made quite an impression on Zak.
“Like we’ve learned in 2026, his best golf is still really, really good,” Zak added. “Putting your name up there on the major leaderboards, winning tournaments in Europe. He… finished second behind Shane Lowry at the Irish Open… He’s a great foil for Rory, who’s not going away. And he used to be a great Ryder Cup teammate for Jordan Spieth.”
By “a great foil,” Zak is referring to the feud/rivelry between Rory McIlroy and Reed, which intensified on Christmas Eve 2022. Reed’s lawyer served McIlroy with a legal subpoena at his home in connection with a lawsuit involving LIV Golf, deeply angering the Northern Irishman. The tension spilled over at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic in January 2023, when McIlroy ignored Reed on the practice range.
In response, Reed flicked a LIV Golf tee at McIlroy, sparking a public war of words in which Reed called his rival an “immature little child.”
Besides that, Reed did form a great partnership with Jordan Spieth, as Zak pointed out, after his debut in the biennial team event in 2014. The pair went unbeaten in their three matches that year, then continued the success at the 2016 Ryder Cup for a combined Ryder Cup record of roughly 4-1-2. That partnership was finally broken at the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris under captain Jim Furyk.
Spieth was paired instead with close friend Justin Thomas, who went on to perform well. Meanwhile, Reed teamed with Tiger Woods and went 0-2 in fourballs and was even asked to sit out both foursomes sessions. In the aftermath, the 2018 Masters champion criticized Furyk for breaking up the partnership with Spieth. However, it later came out that it was Spieth who had asked to be paired with Thomas.
Regardless, the situation sparked a feud between Reed and Jim Furyk. In the Ryder Cups that followed, Reed was notably absent from the U.S. team, although his move to LIV Golf in 2022 also played a role in keeping him out of contention. Despite that history with the team event, Zak feels Reed’s participation in the 2027 Ryder Cup will only make things interesting, at least for him.
“I think 2027 gets extremely interesting if Patrick Reed plays well enough to be around that Ryder Cup team,” he said. “Mostly for people like you and me who get to talk about this stuff. I’m not sure that he’s the best fit for Team USA.”
That said, U.S. captain Jim Furyk has since made it clear that he has no reservations about Reed earning a spot on the American Ryder Cup roster.
“If Patrick Reed is one of those, that’s great,” Furyk told The Telegraph. “It’s been a long time since he’s been in our team room and, yeah, you know, Patrick and I will have that conversation. I’m looking forward to welcoming our best team of 12.”
However, only time will tell whether Patrick Reed ever gets to compete in the Ryder Cup again.