ve been around 10 under on his own ball. He obviously loves the atmosphere out here, and he loves fanning the fire.Any other golfer (with the possible exception of Ian Poulter or Rory McIlro

CHASKA, Minn. -- Patrick Reed walked into a USA team meeting this week and told his captain, Davis Love III, as well as everyone else in the room, that he would be playing in five matches at the Ryder Cup. Also,?Jordan Spieth was going to be his teammate, he added.Every time.It wasnt a request. It was a statement.Reed is many things -- confident, passionate, stubborn -- but when it comes to the Ryder Cup, he is something that seems even more important. He is fearless. He has an unapologetic patriotic swagger and relishes playing for his country, maybe as much as any American golfer since Payne Stewart. If the United States was going to win back the Ryder Cup, Reed wanted to put the team on his back, and Spieths back, and get it done.Love, as much as he appreciated the fire, couldnt promise anything right away. He knew Reed was going to be a huge part of his team, but he also wanted to be flexible, to have options. Love had spreadsheets and vice captains and his own intuition to take into consideration. He had spent a year preparing for this, going over every scenario, and he wanted to make sure he got it right.He paired Reed and Speith together the first three sessions of the Ryder Cup, but after a win, a loss and a halve, Love was leaning toward sitting the two of them during Saturday afternoon four-ball. He wanted to give everyone on his team a chance to play, and that meant every pairing had to sit at least once. He took it to his vice captains. Over radios and text messages and phone calls, they had an intense debate. Even Loves son, who is driving the cart for his dad this week, threw out a suggestion. The clock was ticking. Love admitted, later, he was nervous. He felt a little panicky about the decision. Finally he turned to Tiger Woods.Are we playing [Reed and Spieth] or are we sitting them? Love asked.You have to send them back out there, Woods said.Love took Woods advice, and every American golf fan should be grateful for it. It might, in fact, go down as one of the most important decisions Team USA has made at the Ryder Cup in two decades.Reed, who might be the best American Ryder Cup player to emerge in the last 20 years, played with so much passion and precision during Saturday four-ball, he barely needed Spieths help to defeat Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson?in a?volatile match that gave the United States a 9 ?-6? lead going into Sunday singles.Reed was such a raucous ball of patriotic energy -- firing at pins, rolling in putts, flexing and howling for the huge gallery of American fans at Hazeltine -- it was almost surreal at times. During one stretch on the front 9, he played six holes (No. 3 through No. 8) in 6-under par. When he holed out from the fairway on No. 6 for eagle, he looked like a fullback who had just broken three tackles and run over a safety to score a touchdown. He pumped his fists, chest-bumped Spieth, high-fived both U.S. caddies, and over and over again, he shouted his barbaric yawp across the fairways of the world.Weve all seen it before, Spieth said. Hes Captain America for us. It was really, really fun to be a part of. A show was put on by Patrick Reed today.Reed and Spieth took a 3-up lead through nine holes, an advantage similar to the one they frittered away in the morning matches when Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello stormed back on them to steal half a point in foursomes. But this time, the European rally, which included a birdie by Rose plus a birdie and an eagle by Stenson, wasnt enough to overcome Reed.We kind of ran into a one-man wolf pack, Rose said. He was unbelievable. He punished us every time he had a wedge in his hand. He might have been around 10 under on his own ball. He obviously loves the atmosphere out here, and he loves fanning the fire.Any other golfer (with the possible exception of Ian Poulter or Rory McIlroy), and it wouldnt have worked. Eventually, all that emotion would have boiled over and been impossible to control. But Reeds personality is such a perfect fit for this event, even if he never wins a major championship, hes likely to be an American fan favorite for the next decade or more. He is exactly what the United States has been lacking in the Ryder Cup, someone who not only embraces the moment, but plays great under pressure.By the end of the match, American fans were chanting his name on every green, and he was twirling his putter, bobbing his head, grinning and pointing back as he soaked up the appreciation. I love it when the crowds get the U-S-A chants going, Reed said. I just feed off it. I knew we had to do something special today to win this afternoon match.Reed was such a powder keg of emotion, it grew increasingly difficult to keep the partisan crowd under control throughout the afternoon. Rose and Stenson were cursed at repeatedly by rowdy American fans, and Rose actually walked over to confront one who yelled at him, while Stenson was pulling his putter back on a crucial birdie attempt. The Europeans didnt want to dwell on it, and initially were reluctant to talk about it, but both Rose and Stenson were clearly frustrated with some of what they had to put up with.Its the minority of fans, and you dont want to focus on it because thats what they want, Rose said. But there isnt a lot of crowd support from the players point of view. But you know what? If you put 60,000 people in here, its going to be fun, its going to be intense. Its patriotic, and that brings out the best and worst in people. They just have to be careful about the future of this event.Spieth, to his credit, repeatedly tried to implore American fans to stop making noise during Team Europes backswings. Several times throughout the match, he attempted to quiet the idiots in the crowd who thought it would be fun to heckle during Stensons and Roses pre-shot routines, but it was a double-edged sword because then Reed and Spieth were put on the clock by the rules official for taking too much time.Obviously we love being on home turf, but there was some stuff that was said from the crowd that we felt like was a bit much, Spieth said. We just wanted to be able to all play. We wanted to beat them when they were at their best. We didnt want anything else taking over.In the end, though, it was Reed who took over. He made birdies on 14 and 15 to put the United States 3-up with three holes to play. He then birdied the 16th after a monster 4-wood from the middle of the fairway, a shot that was so beautifully struck it almost didnt matter that Stenson stole the hole minutes later with a chip-in eagle. Spieths and Reeds celebration in the middle of the 16th fairway sent the crowd into a frenzy unlike any the Ryder Cup has seen so far.Its the most amount of people that either one of us have ever seen on a golf hole, Spieth said. Before [the ball] reached its apex, we were both screaming. Thats how cool it was. I screamed Lets go, Patrick! That hole was so cool walking up and just hearing the fans. He was getting everything he deserved for what he did against, historically, the best team theyve had.The Ryder Cup isnt over yet, of course. Reed, after all that, now faces his toughest challenge of the week, a singles match against McIlroy. They are the first match of the day and could set a tone for what unfolds. There will be roars and jeers and fist pumps flying. Normally, youd give the edge to McIlroy, the man who has, in recent months, clearly made the case that he is still the worlds best player.But this is the Ryder Cup, and this is match play. Its a different animal than stroke play. Love didnt hesitate when filling out his pairings. He knew McIlroy was likely to go out first for Europe, and so he penciled in the name of the one man who just might be fearless and arrogant enough to dethrone the king. Jordan Staal Jersey . -- San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks was fined $15,570 by the NFL on Wednesday for his hit on Saints quarterback Drew Brees last Sunday. Cheap Hurricanes Jerseys . Artturi Lehkonen, Joni Nikko and Ville Leskinen had the other goals for Finland (1-0) while Juuse Saros stopped 28 shots. Tim Robin Johnsgard had the lone goal for Norway (0-2). http://www.hurricanesauthority.com/authentic-jake-bean-hurricanes-jersey/ . 1 position. 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STATESBORO, Ga. -- Anthony Jennings passed for 210 yards and ran for 96 yards and a touchdown to help Louisiana-Lafayette beat Georgia Southern 33-26 on Thursday night.Jennings converted a pair of third downs -- a 21-yard keeper and a 9-yard pass to Al Riles -- for the Ragin Cajuns (4-5, 3-3 Sun Belt) to run out the clock on the final drive.Louisiana-Lafayette led 31-13 in the middle of the third after Riles, starting from a Wildcat formation, threw a 48-yard TD pass to Keenan Barnes.Georgia Southern (4-6, 33-3) cut it to 31-19 on L.ddddddddddddA. Ramsbys 2-yard TD run. But Louisiana-Lafayettes Otha Peters intercepted and returned Seth Shumans pass 100 yards to convert the extra 2 points for the Cajuns. Ramsby scored again to cap the scoring with 4:23 left after Ironhead Gallon returned Darrius Sapps blocked punt