Patrick Reed builds a 2-shot lead at Bethpage Black

Here’s what we know right now: Reed entered the week in the eighth and final roster spot; Fowler is four places further back in 12th.

The only thing he broke Thursday was par.

The world number eight has made one previous appearance at the 2010 Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and is focused on playing a part in the show at Hazeltine National Golf Club at the end of September.

Patrick Reed took a two-shot lead at The Barclays Championship on Friday, firing a three-under 68 to take a slender advantage into the weekend action.

“To have a few putts go in, to be able to be getting up-and-down for par and saving those shots to keep the momentum going, it makes all the difference”, Fowler said.

Rory McIlroy will begin the final round at the Barclays seven shots off the pace as Rickie Fowler takes a slender lead into the last day of action in NY. He has had five runner-up finishes since then, and he’s pleased with his consistency. Reed thought about hitting 3-iron short of the bunkers, leaving him 165 yards. But on his second nine he made a double and two bogeys in a four-hole stretch.

Reed, who teed off on the back nine, grabbed the first of his three birdies on the second, before eagling the par-five fourth hole with a 16-foot putt. And there are some completely outrageous spots to get stuck at Bethpage, where the scoring average has been over par in each of the first three rounds. Instead of setting a course record, the Australian struggled to finish his round under par after a string of bogeys left him with a 1-under 70 for round. “But at the end of the day, it’s trying to get better and play this tournament because, if I play well, that means the other guys have to play even better to catch me”. “I felt like I was hitting the ball well”.

“The touch feels pretty good”. His only option was to play away from the green, and he made double bogey. But a bogey on the ninth was followed by four more on the back nine to leave him seven shots off the pace. And then it all went sideways, mainly off the tee. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot a 70 and is well back at three over while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask.is also in action.

Fowler has three career PGA Tour victories, all of which have come after trailing through 36 holes.

To the victor goes $1.53 million and 2,000 FedEx Cup points, yet it’s the Ryder Cup points that might carry more value. Their season is over, a group that includes Francesco Molinari, David Toms and Boo Weekley.

South Africa’s Richard Sterne (67) and Belgian Ryder Cup hopeful Thomas Pieters (71) were 9 under.

While many observers expected the Olympians to collectively be a exhausted bunch entering this FedEx Cup stretch, perhaps there’s a little karma at play – even if they aren’t buying into the notion.

“It’d be awesome”, said Holmes, a long hitter who tied for fourth at the Masters and the Memorial and finished third at the British Open but has missed his last three cuts. Going into Saturday, it wouldn’t take much for Holmes to make up the difference.

“It was just a little bit I think more so rust, a bit of mental rust than physical rust”, he explained. Johnson was in a large tie for 39th. He was tied for 10th. AP material published by LongIsland.com, is done so with explicit permission. This includes the preparation of derivative works of, or the incorporation of such content into other works. Please see our terms of service for more information.