Reed brushes aside U.S. team talk in Shanghai

After taking the first round lead Thursday in Shanghai, Patrick Reed managed to avoid any discussion about his controversial comments following the U.S. Ryder Cup team’s loss in Paris.

A second-round 72 on Friday left him three shots behind leader Tony Finau, and it also brought him back into the media center, where he opened and closed his news conference with questions about his past and future participation on U.S. international teams.

First, Reed denied that he came to Shanghai looking to prove any particular point with his play.

“No, not really. Ryder Cup was three, almost four weeks ago,” he said. “Right now, I’m just trying to play great golf and finish off the year right, because even though the PGA Tour season has now started, for The European Tour, it’s still going on. I’m a little bit behind Francesco [Molinari] in that and I’m hoping to close that gap and have a chance to hopefully win The Race to Dubai.”

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Reed is currently third on that points list, behind Molinari and Tommy Fleetwood, the duo which took down Reed and Tiger Woods twice in Paris.

As for who Reed would like to partner with in the future, say at the 2019 Presidents Cup, the Masters champion is keeping quiet on that for now.

“I don’t know. I don’t even know where I stand on the whole points list or anything like that. Right now I’m just kind of focusing on this week and trying to get through the season,” he said.

“So you know, I have this week, Dubai, Hong Kong and Tiger’s event left for the season. You know, for how long of a year it’s been, I’m just wanting to finish the year off right and finish the year off strong so I can have a fun little offseason.”