The Open Championship: PlayOn fantasy picks
![SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND - JULY 17: Lee Westwood of England finishes his practice round prior to the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 17, 2017 in Southport, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images) SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND - JULY 17: Lee Westwood of England finishes his practice round prior to the 146th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale on July 17, 2017 in Southport, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/a0b38c4dbea6b212e5d70f1ef7571999a908bf56c0fb0d8b19678d77758be530.jpg)
There is no finer fighter on the links than Patrick Reed. He loves the contest, embraces the challenges, and relishes conflict – with the course, with his competitors, and with the gallery.
Reed is one of those players who has yet to crack the top-10 in any major championship he finished the 2016 Open at T12 – but Birkdale is the sort of track that could get him inside the top of the field. But even without a top-10 finish Reed will do well on my team because he can sparkle on the putting surface. He ranked 13th on the PGA TOUR in SG: putting.
Reed’s not missed a cut in his PGA TOUR starts since the Valero Texas Open last April and has five times finished inside the top-15. He’s playing a consistently high-level game right now. I look at his missed cut last week at Dundonald Links as a blip on the Reed golf radar. He rightly came to the UK early, played a tournament, made his time zone adjustments, tweaked his game, and he’ll be ready to go come tee time at Royal Birkdale.
I don’t see Reed for the win but I do look for him to make the cut and deliver enough birdies to make my team happy and proud.