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2021 men’s Olympic golf: Top 10 power rankings at Kasumigaseki CC

By Mike Randleman

Hideki Matsuyama reacts after putting the 17th during the first round of Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Thursday, July 1, 2021.
Hideki Matsuyama reacts after putting the 17th during the first round of Rocket Mortgage Classic at the Detroit Golf Club in Detroit, Thursday, July 1, 2021. /
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Sep 26, 2017; Jersey City, NJ, USA; U.S. U.S. Team golfer Patrick Reed plays a shot on the first tee at The Presidents Cup golf tournament at Liberty National Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 26, 2017; Jersey City, NJ, USA; U.S. U.S. Team golfer Patrick Reed plays a shot on the first tee at The Presidents Cup golf tournament at Liberty National Golf Course. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Here we have Patrick Reed getting a break from a precarious position.

Despite holding down a top-15 world ranking almost every year since he finished  T-11th at the 2016 Rio Games, Reed did not qualify to represent the U.S.A. this time around.

The field of golfers is 60, but nations are capped at two golfers each, with an exception for up to four players if they are all inside the top 15 in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Reed fit the bill for the OWGR, but a wealth of American talent at the top left him an odd man out.

That is, until the untimely COVID-19 positive test for Bryson DeChambeau announced Sunday.

The door closed for one player eager to represent the red, white and blue, and opened for another.

“It would mean everything. I mean, to be — it’s already awesome to be called and Olympian, but to be called a gold medalist, silver medalist or bronze medalist, it would mean a lot,” Reed was transcribed by Tee Scripts Sunday after finishing T-34th at the 3M Open. “That’s something that we’ve only had an opportunity to do twice and to go ahead and kind of put a stamp and be able to add that to the trophy case would be amazing.”

Reed has gone five starts without a top-10, but a missed cut by two shots at The Open was his only MC since May.

The Augusta State alum is a winner in 2021 at the Farmers Insurance Open and made the cut at three majors highlights by T-8th at the Masters.

One would hope an Olympic course in Kasumigaseki will test a broad set of skills and reward golf from various international playing styes. If that’s the ca=se, Reed’s handiwork on and around the greens can help him to the podium.

Whether or not you want to question his lie on a given shot, Reed’s 14th on the PGA Tour in strokes gained around the green (.393) and eighth in SG putting (.674).

With all the turmoil going around the Olympics this year, I think a guy like Reed will thrive well under golf-only circumstances and grit out a high finish with the Ryder Cup looming.

I see him summoning patriotic adrenaline to be near the lead going into the weekend. The week of jet lag and hurriedness getting to Japan at the last minute will ultimately be what keeps Reed off the podium.

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