Patrick Reed can take inspiration from Ryder Cup team-mate Jordan Spieth as he tries to get back on the right track in the Porsche European Open in Hamburg.
Reed and Spieth have formed a powerful partnership in the last two biennial contests between Europe and the United States, winning five points from their seven matches together at Gleneagles in 2014 and Hazeltine in 2016.
Yet while Spieth was on his way to winning a third Major at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale last week, Reed was suffering a second missed cut in succession after making an early exit from the previous week’s Scottish Open.
“I felt like I did a lot of things really well last week that I can carry over to this week, and hopefully play some solid golf and get a chance on Sunday,” said Reed, who slipped from eighth in the world rankings at the end of 2016 to his current position of 26th.
“I feel like I have actually been playing better than I did last year, and I’m just not getting the results I want. I have been getting a lot of top 20s, top 25s, but haven’t won a golf tournament yet this year and haven’t given myself many opportunities to win.
So hopefully this is that week that I can get it on the right side, and instead of finishing 10th or 15th I can get the win.”
Affiliate membership
Reed is joined at Green Eagle Golf Course by fellow Americans Jimmy Walker and Pat Perez, with Perez taking up affiliate membership of the European Tour for the rest of the season.
“It’s probably the first time I have been in a position to become a European Tour member in my career,” said the world number 42, who won the second of his PGA Tour titles in the OHL Classic in November.
“I’ve always stayed in the US, so I figured after I won and got to the top 50 in the world I might try and travel a bit and see some new parts of the world and play against other great players. I wanted to play the European Tour and become more of a global player.
“I am going to try and broaden my horizons, go to places such as Dubai and Malaysia, and see where I fall.
“This time last year I was in a sling. I had [shoulder] surgery in March last year, and I hadn’t played at all. I didn’t really know what to expect coming back, so winning my third event back kind of changed the second half of my career.
New position
“So now that that has happened, I have a whole new position in the game, and I am going to try and take full advantage of it and be part of the European Tour, like a lot of great players have from the US and Europe, and I am excited to do it.”
France's Alexander Levy is back to defend the title he won last at Golf Resort Bad Griesbach, where he beat England's Ross Fisher on the second of a play-off after the event had been reduced to 54 holes.
