LIV Golf star Patrick Reed facing failure in bid to exploit loophole and qualify for The Open
Patrick Reed is set to miss out on qualifying for The Open
Patrick Reed's hopes of securing a spot in The Open at Royal Troon are dwindling after a lacklustre performance in the first two rounds of the Italian Open.
The LIV Golf star, who was granted a sponsor's exemption for the DP World Tour event at Adriatic Golf Club Cervia, started off promisingly with a two-under-par opening round on Thursday. However, his fortunes took a turn for the worse on Friday, as he carded a level-par round riddled with errors, leaving him tied for 45th and six shots behind co-leaders Jannick De Bruyn and Gunner Wiebe.
Reed's day got off to a shaky start with a bogey at the par-four 10th his first hole of the day. He managed to bounce back with three birdies in his next five holes, taking him to four under for the tournament. Despite managing a couple of birdies on his back nine, he was left ruing bogeys at two and six, which sandwiched a double-bogey six at the fourth, leaving him level for the day.
While Reed is comfortably within the cut line of -1, he faces an uphill battle over the weekend if he wants to secure a place in the field for Royal Troon. This is the former world No.6's last shot at making it to Scotland, having passed up the chance to participate in final qualifying for the Open.
Sergio Garcia, Abraham Ancer and Graeme McDowell are set to tee off among 15 LIV Golf stars in one of four final qualifying events across Britain on Tuesday. However, Patrick Reed is taking a different route, focusing his efforts solely on the Italian Open.
Previously, Reed had pulled out of a final qualifier for the U. S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, abruptly ending a streak of 41 consecutive major championship appearances. Now, with his performance in Italy not up to par, he may miss another major, marking a potential second successive absence.
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Reed's struggle to secure spots in the majors is a direct consequence of his switch from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf two years ago. With LIV Golf yet to be recognised by the Official World Golf Ranking, Reed has seen his ranking drop below the top-100.
Reflecting on his world ranking and participation in major events, Reed expressed his frustration earlier this month at LIV Houston: "I feel like the world ranking is not a reflection of where I should be and what events I should be in," he said.
"But at the end of the day, I don't make those decisions. It's their call on special exemptions. They're the ones that make those decisions and I just have to live with it, just continue doing what I do and play golf."