Will any US team member want to play with Patrick Reed at the Ryder Cup?

Let’s see if we can break down the wild year that Patrick Reed has had. First, Reed came relatively out of nowhere last August and won the Wyndham Championship. I say “out of nowhere” because the first half of 2013 looked like this for Reed. Before the end of May, he had missed the cut in more than half of the tournaments he entered, including a terrible stretch of four straight in March and April.

But as summer rolled around, Reed found something in his game. The summer of 2013 looked much better and Reed got the aforementioned Wyndham victory and even qualified for the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

Reed then parlayed his late 2013 success with a spectacular start to 2014. His victory in January at the Humana Challenge was nice, but the golf world really started to take notice at the WGC Cadillac Championship. We expected a man wearing red and black to be in contention all week, but it wasn’t Tiger Woods. Instead Patrick Reed stole the show, going wire-to-wire for the biggest win and paycheck of his career.

By now you likely know what happened next. In a post-round interview, Reed referred to himself as one of the best five players in the world, generating reaction among other pros and golf fans alike. In fact, the comments that Reed made may present an issue for Tom Watson some seven months later. Reed’s cocky comments rubbed many players the wrong way, including several on the US Ryder Cup team. He also had trouble getting along with teammates at Georgia before transferring out to Augusta State. Who will Watson pair with Reed and, more importantly, will they want to play with him?

It is a conundrum for Watson, whose main goal is to put a winning team together, regardless of personal differences and past conflicts. But chemistry is not just some intangible myth here -- it’s an enormous part of Ryder Cup success, especially during those first two days of two-man games. Ask Hal Sutton how putting two supremely talented players who might not get along too great worked out in 2004, when the Tiger-Phil duo was a tone-setting disaster to a blowout loss.

So who does Watson pair with Reed? I am thinking Webb Simpson may find his way onto the course with Reed a few times. His laid back nature combined with the fact that he generally gets along with everyone should make for a good partner. The only hiccup here is that Simpson might be reserved for another malcontent who is a difficult partner, Bubba Watson. Reed’s success is undeniable, but he may have trouble getting on the course just because there’s no natural partner left for him.

One interesting stat to keep an eye on for Reed is that he ranks third on Tour this year in eagles made. To make that happen, you need to be good at long approach shots, which Reed is. On 136 attempts this year from 200-225 yards, Reed averages a distance of 39 feet to the hole. This could come in handy with three par 5s measuring around 515 yards. The possible pairing with Simpson, a shorter hitter, could yield the US a winning combo in the alternate shot matches.

Even as we near the end of the 2014 season, it remains tough for Reed to escape his controversial comments from his win at Doral. To compound the issue, his play on the course since that victory has done little to bolster his claim as one of the world’s best.

But here we are -- Reed, 6 months removed from his controversial comments, is one of three rookies on Tom Watson’s United States team. Sure, it is largely due to his early season success, but Reed could be an asset to the United States team with his mixture of iron play and confidence. There is no doubt he has the latter.

Age: 24
World ranking: 27
Ryder Cup record (Win-Loss-Halve): 0-0-0
Past Ryder Cup appearance: None
How he qualified: Automatic spot -- 8th of 9 in standings (3,650.227 points)