Stricker On Not Picking Reed – “Very Difficult Call. Kind Of Lost Sleep”

The Ryder Cup captain said that leaving Reed out was extremely difficult

Stricker On Not Picking Reed - "Very Difficult Call. Kind Of Lost Sleep"

Steve Stricker has announced his six wildcard picks for the 2020 Ryder Cup and there was one big name to miss out.

Whilst the likes of Webb Simpson, Kevin Na, Kevin Kisner and Jason Kokrak were all not picked, the omission of Patrick Reed was the most surprising.

Reed, known as 'Captain America', was recently hospitalised with bilateral pneumonia but his return at the Tour Championship appeared to show Stricker as well as fans that he was fit enough to play at Whistling Straits.

However, Stricker is not 100% convinced of Reed's health and admitted that the phone call to the Texan was "very, very difficult" and caused him to lose sleep.

"Patrick Reed that was a very, very difficult call. Kind of lost sleep over that one," Stricker said of leaving the four-time Ryder Cupper out.

"He's a tremendous competitor, he brings a lot to match play golf.

"His record here at the Ryder Cup is pretty darn good, it was a very difficult call, it wasn't an easy one.

"I think it was the uncertainty of his health and really the lack of play that led to our decision.

"Like I said it was a very hard conversation. He was my first call.

"I knew that it was going to be hard but he took it like a true champion.

"I apologised many times to him and wanted to make sure that he knew that it was a very difficult decision.

"He handled it like a champion and took it well. Very disappointed as you can imagine but he said all the right things and handled it very well."

Stricker also said that he has not picked a reserve player in case Brooks Koepka cannot play due to injury or if a player got Covid-19.

The four-time Major winner injured his wrist at the Tour Championship but is still on Team USA.

"We're not there yet, we're focused on these 12 guys and moving forward with these 12 guys now," Stricker said on whether he had chosen a reserve to replace Koepka.

"We'll deal with that situation if it were to happen but as of now we're moving forward with these 12 guys."

Related: Ryder Cup Team USA - Whistling Straits 2021

The Ryder Cup takes place from 24-26th September.