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Patrick Reed now finds himself in prime position to hoist two cups after his win at The Barclays at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y., on Sunday. Reed's one-stroke victory at 9-under-par 275 at the treacherous 7,468-yard Bethpage Black catapulted him to first place in the FedExCup standings, while also securing his spot on the Ryder Cup team for the United States.
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"Anything that comes with a win always makes you feel better," said Reed, who entered the week seventh in the FedExCup standings and eighth in the Ryder Cup race.
"If you go and win it takes care of everything else: Gets you ... into (the) Ryder Cup, gets you to lead FedEx."
Reed chased down 54-hole leader Rickie Fowler with his four-birdie, three-bogey 70 to claim his fifth PGA Tour victory at the first of four FedExCup Playoffs events in Farmingdale.
The No. 14 ranked player in the World Golf Rankings was the 18-hole co-leader and held the outright 36-hole lead before shooting a weekend-worst 71 Saturday to spot Fowler a one-stroke lead.
"Any time you can come from behind on Sunday to win a golf tournament, means you must be doing something right," Reed said.
Sean O'Hair (66) and Argentina's Emiliano Grillo (69) finished one shot behind in a tie for second place.
Top-ranked Jason Day of Australia (69) was two strokes back and tied for fourth with Gary Woodland (69) and world No. 7 Adam Scott of Australia (71).
Fowler (74), the world No. 8, was three strokes back and tied for seventh with Ryan Moore and Jason Kokrak, who each carded 69s.
World No. 3 Jordan Spieth (69) tied for 10th with Justin Thomas (71) at four shots behind.
Reed, 26, hadn't won since a playoff victory over PGA champion Jimmy Walker at the 2015 Tour of Champions. His win Sunday was the eighth straight in a Playoffs event for a player under 30 years old.
"I felt like I've played really well all year," Reed said. "Just haven't quite had that breakthrough W like today."
The San Antonio, Texas native earned the $1,530,000 winner's share of the $8.5 million purse and 2,000 FedExCup points.
The top 100 players in the standings advance to next weekend's Deutsche Bank Championship, the second Playoffs event at the 7,207-yard, par-71 course at TPC Boston in Norton, Mass.
Fowler took last year's Deutsche Bank title, besting 2013 FedExCup champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden by a stroke. Fowler rose to 16th in the standings after coming in ranked 28th.
While Reed secured his place on the Ryder Cup team, with the top eight in the standings earning an automatic spot, Fowler -- now 11th in the Ryder Cup standings -- must rely on a pick from U.S. team captain Davis Love III.
"It's not for me to worry about right now," Fowler said. "I've just got to go out and get ready to play next week. Coming off a win there last year, I feel like I'm in a good spot."
Reed moved up to fourth in the Ryder Cup standings in the final qualifying event after entering the week in eighth. Zach Johnson, who was 2 over and tied for 48th at The Barclays, holds the eighth and final spot.
Fowler went 55 holes without a bogey, dating back to his ninth hole in the first round Thursday, before a bogey on No. 11. He had another on No. 15 and a double bogey on the next hole and closed birdie-bogey.
Day, the regular-season FedExCup points leader, curled in a 71-foot on No. 15 to put himself within striking distance three shots back, but three-putted on the next hole for bogey before a finishing par.
"It's one of those putts where you really try to get it down there somewhere around the hole," Day said of his lengthy birdie putt. "Fortunate enough for me, the last year and a half, I've holed a good bunch of those big ones."
The 2015 Barclays winner dropped to second in the standings.
World No. 6 Bubba Watson (66) tied for 13th with Phil Mickelson (68), six shots behind Reed.
Olympic champion and world No. 9 Justin Rose of England posted par on his final round and finished nine strokes back and tied for 31st but elicited cheers at the No. 18 green when he put his gold medal from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
"You have to do it," Rose's playing partner Mickelson said. "What's the whole point of winning the gold medal? You've got to flaunt it, right?"
Four-time Barclays winner Vijay Singh of Fiji (71) finished even-par for the tournament in a tie for 53rd. The former world No. 1 is the only player to win The Barclays and FedExCup in the same season, doing so in 2008.
Singh also won that year's Deutsche Bank, his last of 34 Tour victories.
Chad Campbell was the last man into the Deutsche Bank field at No. 100 in the standings, while Blayne Barber, Ireland's Shane Lowry and 2011 PGA champion Keegan Bradley were the first three out.
NOTES: Johnson Wagner and South Korea's Sung Kang matched the course tournament record with final-round 64s. Johnson had eight birdies against a bogey on No. 9, while Kang also had eight birdies and a bogey on No. 11. "It was a perfect day," said Wagner, who is 69th in the FedExCup standings while Kang ranks 88th. ... Zach Johnson's caddie Damon Green did not accompany him forSunday's final round after being dehydrated Friday. "It was my decision," Johnson said, noting that Green needed multiple IV packs in Saturday's round. ... The Deutsche Bank Championship tees off Friday and concludes on Labor Day. The top 70 players in the standings after the Deutsche Bank advance to the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick in Carmel, Ind., which begins Sept. 11.
