Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed sit out after morning loss at Ryder Cup

GUYANCOURT, France – After walking off the 17th green Friday following their Four-ball match loss at the Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods and Patrick Reed were met by U.S. Captain Jim Furyk. It was a discussion of decent length – and it could’ve lasted even longer, considering that Furyk opted to bench the two players instead of rushing them back out for afternoon Foursomes.

The Woods-Reed tandem, the anchor of the U.S. team for the first session at Le Golf National, was the only U.S. partnership not to come back with a morning victory. Their 3 and 1 loss to Europe’s Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari prevented the Americans from matching the opening session sweep they produced two years ago at Hazeltine.

The loss dropped Woods’ all-time Ryder Cup record to 13-18-3 and his Four-balls record to 5-9-0. Reed’s Ryder Cup record fell to 6-2-2 overall and 3-2-0 in Four-balls.

“It's disappointing and frustrating for Pat and I to not contribute to the team,” said Woods, who has sat out a session just one other time his Ryder Cup career. “When you lose a point, you feel like you've contributed but you're contributing to the wrong team. They got the points instead of us.

“That part's frustrating. Wish we could have done a better job.”

It may have been a bit shocking to send Woods and Reed to the sidelines on the first day, but Furyk wanted to get all of his players some game action on Day 1, and his team’s depth – and success in the earlier matches -- gave him plenty of options. He opted to put Four-balls winners Dustin Johnson/Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas in the afternoon session with Bubba Watson/Webb Simpson and Phil Mickelson/Bryson DeChambeau, the four players who sat out the morning.

Plus, even Woods and Reed admitted they were a bit out of sync on Friday.

“We didn't ham-and-egg it very well,” Reed said. “I felt like one guy was in the hole and one guy was out of the hole. The way you're successful in best-ball is you have both guys in the hole, both guys having a chance to look for birdies and just seemed like we didn't.

“And when we did, they weren't close. They were lengthy putts. Putts that percentage-wise are not very good. It was just one of those days that was just a little bit of a struggle.”

It wasn’t a struggle early. In fact, Woods/Reed were 2 up through 10 holes, with each player contributing two birdies at that point. When Reed chipped in for birdie from just off the 10th green, the Americans appeared in control.

But then Molinari answered by winning the next two holes with birdies, with his 25-footer at the 11th switching the momentum.

“We had that little tough stretch in the middle of the round, I lost three holes out of four, I think, it's easy for it to go flat,” Fleetwood said, “but the crowds, the home crowds, as soon as Fran holed that putt on 11, things changed straightaway. And the crowd carried us through it all the way.”

Fleetwood then took the baton and gave his side the lead with birdies at the 15th and 16th. Meanwhile, Reed (at the 15th) and Woods (at the 16th) each found the water to drop out of the hole.

“We were in control of the match being 2-up, but we just didn't make any birdies coming in,” Woods said. “You have to make birdies in Four-ball. You have to do it. We did it early. I think I made about four birdies there on that front nine. Pat had a couple. We were putting it on them, and then on the back nine, it flipped.

“They put it on us, and we couldn't answer.”

It was at the 15th that Reed and Woods had a lengthy strategy discussion. With Woods staring at a bad lie, he told Reed that his best play was to lay up and play for par instead of aim for the green and bring water into play.

“I told him, Hey, the worst score I’m going to make over here with my wedge game right now is probably par,” Woods explained. “I’ll hit up there inside 10 feet. I’ll make par and that should free you up to be a little more aggressive and make birdie.

“He hit a bad shot in the water. I hit it up there to about 8 feet for par, and then Tommy buried it from off the green.”

Whether he was conserving energy or simply modulating his pace, Woods appeared to be operating slowly and deliberating between shots. But a week after his first TOUR win since returning from his multiple back surgeries, Woods did not reveal any physical concerns.

“My game is fine. My cut really wasn't cutting off the tee today. I was hammering it. The ball was going far. It was going straight, but it was not cutting. I can accept that,” Woods said. “That's really no big deal. My putting feels solid. I'll be ready come tomorrow whenever Captain puts me out.

If nothing else, he had Friday afternoon to rest and prepare for a potential 36 holes in Saturday’s two sessions – if Furyk goes that route.