Patrick Reed Lays Out His All-Or-Nothing Plan Of Making The U.S. Ryder Cup Team

When it comes to Patrick Reed potentially making the U.S. Ryder Cup team for this Fall's showdown at Bethpage Black, there is only one path, and that path lies in Northern Ireland at Royal Portrush, the site of next month's Open.

Reed is well aware that the odds are stacked against him to make the U.S. team, but he's not shying away from the fact that he very much wants to be one of the 12 Americans representing the country against Europe in New York later this year.

"It’s always on your mind," Reed said when asked about a wildcard pick.

"Anytime I get to represent our country, it means a lot to me. For me personally, I’m always thinking about trying to make every team," Reed said ahead of this week's LIV Golf event in Dallas.

"Obviously, being a part of LIV where we don’t get points, it’s an uphill battle, but really for me it’s focused on playing some great golf and having a chance."

Reed has three Top 10 finishes on LIV this season to go along with a very strong third-place finish at the Masters and a T-23 finish at the U.S. Open. A missed cut at the PGA Championship did him no favors in moving up the team standings, where he currently ranks 33rd, but hoisting the Claret Jug at Royal Portrush would certainly attract the attention of team captain Keegan Bradley.

Patrick Reed has to show out at The Open to garner Ryder Cup attention. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

Reed won an Asian Tour event in March to secure a spot in The Open field, which sets up a very much all-or-nothing scenario for the former Masters champion.

"It’s really going to come down to the Open Championship, having a chance to win there. You have a really good showing and play well there, then you just never know," Reed said.

"It is looking like no matter what it’s going to rely on a pick unless I go ahead and win the Open," the former Masters champion admitted.

"Really the only way I can focus on the Ryder Cup is that one week, go out and give all I have and have a chance to win."

While Reed isn't complaining about the situation, it's worth mentioning that every player who made the move to LIV Golf knew that making the Ryder Cup team, especially from an automatic qualifying spot in the standings, would be a daunting uphill battle.

Things will work themselves out over the next couple of months, but writing down a 12-man U.S. team in pen at the moment would be bold; pencil is very much the safer option.

Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, JJ Spaun, Russell Henley, Bryson DeChambeau, and Justin Thomas occupy the Top Six spots as of June 25. It feels like Patrick Cantlay, Collin Morikawa, and maybe Ben Griffin are ‘safe’ picks for three of the six captain's picks, but beyond that, filling out the final three spots resembles a toss-up.