2021 The Northern Trust: Top 10 power rankings at Liberty National

You can’t spell “freedom” without “Reed.” You know Patrick Reed will be fired up getting to gaze at Lady Liberty all week.

He had plenty to cheer about the last couple times he was here. Reed and Jordan Spieth were a dynamic duo going 3-0-1 together for the dominant American side in the Presidents Cup. His only setback came against perhaps the Internationals’ best player that week, Louis Oosthuizen, 1 down in singles when the team win was already in the bag.

Reed kept the pep in his step in 2019 at The Northern Trust.

He posted 66-66-67-69 to hold off a late charge by Abraham Ancer to win by one. Reed was two clear of two players in third and three ahead of fifth on a packed leaderboard.

He was licking his chops going into that week knowing the type of test in store at Liberty National.

“Finally got to a golf course where the greens are fast, a lot of break in them, so I’m not having to sit there and look for the perfect read. I can actually use my eyes and be creative and kind of feel putts,” Reed was quoted by ASAP Sports in 2019. “Because of that, I’m able to hopefully get that putter on the right side where it needs to be.”

Reed was getting good rollout on his drives and was still accurate enough to rank second in strokes gained off the tee (1.35).

I’d have Reed slotted higher in this week’s power rankings if he had just a bit better form. He hasn’t fallen off the map, but no top-10’s in his last seven starts is surprising.

Reed did, however, finish between T-19th and T-32nd in that span. He has five top-10s in 2021, including his controversial win at the Farmers Insurance Open.

The 31-year-old just finds a way to get the ball in the hole. It’s never pretty, but PGA Tour ranks of 12th in SG around the green (.365) and sixth in SG putting (.677)  can cover a lot of imperfections.