Ryder Cup: Medinah has no direct bearing, insists Reed

USA's Patrick Reed (left) and Jordan Speith during the opening ceremony

Reed made his infamous comment after winning the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral in March, but the 24-year-old was singing a different tune at Gleneagles, where the United States will attempt to make up for being on the wrong end of the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012.

“Medinah is the past,” said Reed. “I wasn’t there during it and the guys that were there, they seem fine and they are playing great, which is always nice to see.

“And also, I love being the underdog and kind of the team that’s not really expected to win. I mean, Augusta State, did you expect us to win two (NCAA titles) in a row? We still did it.”

Reed, who is currently ranked 27th in the world, is making his Ryder Cup debut at Gleneagles but can draw on a strong match play record from collegiate golf in the United States.

“In the NCAAs I was 6-0 in match play throughout my career,” he added. “I played a lot of things in college because at Augusta State half the team was international and half the team was US, so we played multiple times a year in a Ryder Cup kind of a format and events like that.

“Those are just the kind of things I feel like are going to help me this week. The main thing is, you know, keep my head down, play some good golf and keep going.”

Reed’s wife Justine usually caddies for him on the PGA Tour but has taken a back seat this week, with Kessler Karain taking over on the bag.

“Of course she would have loved to, but she felt like this would have been a fun week for her to be the wife, take in all the activities with the other wives and get to know them and build more friendships, just like I did out here with the guys,” added Reed.