CARMEL, Ind. – Roberto Castro wants nothing more than to go home to Atlanta, and he took a soggy step in the right direction Thursday in the BMW Championship.

Castro was just as good before the rain as he was after the storms cleared at Crooked Strick, running off eight birdies until a bogey on his last hole for a 7-under 65 and the temporary lead.

Storms and heavy rain caused a 3 1/2-hour delay and changed the nature of Crooked Stick from fast and firm to greens that were soft and accessible. The delay meant that just under half the 69-man field finished the round.

The first round was to resume at 8 a.m. Friday, with more bad weather in the forecast.

Brian Harman got right back into gear. He was in position to potentially lock up his spot in the Tour Championship until closing with a 77 from the final group at the TPC Boston on Monday. He opened with a 66, with an eagle on the par-5 15th hole and no bogeys on his card.

U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson was within one shot of the lead until he sent his drive into the lake to the right of the 18th fairway and made bogey, giving him a 67 along with Jason Dufner.

Among those still on the course, Chris Kirk was at 5 under at the turn, while Hideki Matsuyama, Paul Casey and Adam Scott were at 4 under on the back nine. Casey had the 54-hole lead last week at the TPC Boston.

Castro went to Georgia Tech and still lives in Atlanta, about 15 minutes from East Lake. That’s the destination for everyone in the field trying to get into the top 30 in the FedEx Cup and advance to the Tour Championship for a shot at the $10 million bonus.

Castro, who has yet to win on the PGA Tour, made it to the Tour Championship in 2013 with a pair of top 10s in the playoffs.

“I told myself the last two weeks really to play like I had nothing to lose, and to make a bunch of birdies is a good way to start,” Castro said. “Sure, it’s a hometown tournament for me. It’s the hardest one to get to, unfortunately, but it’s still a great tournament. I would love to be back.”

He is at No. 53 in the FedEx Cup and likely would need to finish fourth at Crooked Stick to have a chance.

The BMW Championship is back at Crooked Stick for the first time since 2012, when Rory McIlroy won on a rain-softened course. This time, it was blazing hot during the pro-am Wednesday and players had a look at how tough it could play – at least until the rain.

Jason Day played a wedge out of the rough on the second hole, landed it some 30 feet short of the pin and watched it race across the green and into thick rough. After the delay, it was an entirely different golf course. Patrick Reed, who is leading the FedEx Cup, hit a short iron out of dense rough that plopped down 12 feet from the cup.

The course could be attacked, and that’s what the players did.

McIlroy, coming off a victory at the TPC Boston, was at 3 under through 10 holes. Jordan Spieth was at 2 under, both birdies on par 5s on the front nine.

But it was another struggle for Rickie Fowler, bidding for a Ryder Cup captain’s pick. After squandering a chance to make the U.S. team at The Barclays, Fowler was in the middle of the pack at the Deutsche Bank Championship and opened the BMW Championship with a 75.

Bubba Watson, also hopeful of a pick, was 1 under through 13 holes. He followed three straight birdies with three straight bogeys on the front nine.

Day, meanwhile, is set for the Tour Championship and assured of being in the top five in the FedEx Cup, meaning he would only have to win at East Lake to claim the cup and its lucrative bonus. The Australian looked out of sorts after the rain delay, however, missing fairways, missing greens and missing putts. The frustration mounted on the 16th green when he flipped his ball into the water after his third bogey on the back nine.

Day’s biggest putt came on the next hole, however, a birdie from 25 feet that he struck before Reed could even mark his ball. It stopped his slide, sure. But it allowed him to head over to the 18th tee and hit his shot to make sure that his group finished before the horn sounded to stop play.

CARMEL, Ind. – Out of golf for more than a year, Tiger Woods said Wednesday he hopes to play the first event of the PGA Tour season next month and could play as much as twice more before the end of the year.

Woods said if his rehabilitation from back surgeries keeps going well, he would play the Safeway Open in Napa, California, on Oct. 13-16.

“My rehabilitation is to the point where I’m comfortable making plans, but I still have work to do,” Woods said in a surprise announcement on his website . “Whether I can play depends on my continued progress and recovery. My hope is to have my game ready to go.”

Woods last played on Aug. 23, 2015, at the Wyndham Championship. Two shots out of the lead going into the final round, he closed with a 70 and tied for 10th. A month later, he announced he had another operation on his back. Then, Woods had a third back surgery in October.

He missed all four majors for the first time in his career.

Jack Nicklaus tweeted to Woods.

.@TigerWoods, it’s great to see you back and in good health. You’ve done so much for the game and it’s better with you playing. Good luck!

— Jack Nicklaus (@jacknicklaus) September 7, 2016

The Safeway Open is the opening event of the wraparound PGA Tour season held at Silverado. Woods also said he intends to play in the Turkish Airlines Open the first weekend in November and his Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas the first week of December, where he would be eligible for the 18-man field as the tournament host.

He also said he would take part in his Tiger Woods Invitational, a charity event for his foundation, Oct. 10-11 on the Monterey Peninsula.

“It was difficult missing tournaments that are important to me, but this time I was smart about my recovery and didn’t rush it,” Woods said.

The announcement was a swift departure from the few public appearances this year in which Woods has said he planned to return but did not have a timetable.

Now he does.

“He needs to get back out here,” U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson said. “The tour needs him, and I want to see him playing well again. He’s not going to come back unless he’s ready, so I feel like he’ll play well. Winning? I don’t see it right away. But he’s on a different level than anyone else. He’ll be prepared.”

Rory McIlroy said he knew Woods was close based on a conversation with Woods’ agent at the British Open this year. He said the PGA Tour sent out an alert to players on their mobile phones, which McIlroy checked at the end of his pro-am round at the BMW Championship.

“I’m sort of glad I’m not there that week. … It’s going to be a bit of a circus,” McIlroy said. “But it’s good to see him back and healthy, and it will be exciting to see him back on the course again.”

Woods won his 79th PGA Tour title in 2013 at the Bridgestone Invitational, leaving him three short of the record held by Sam Snead. The last of his 14 majors was in the 2008 U.S. Open, right before reconstructive surgery on his left knee. He hasn’t seriously contended in a major since 2013. Woods had his first back surgery right before the 2014 Masters.

“I’m looking forward to seeing him play again, seeing what the state of his game is,” world No. 1 Jason Day said. “I think he’s done it the right way by waiting and not coming back too soon. There’s been a couple of times where I feel like he may have come back too soon and kind of injured himself a little bit more and that’s what’s kept him out of the game so long.”

Woods first played in Turkey in 2013 when it was an exhibition and as part of the deal, he was required to play in Napa at least once over the next three years. Woods had been planning to play last year until back surgery, and then the tournament changed title sponsors.

Phil Mickelson also is playing the Safeway Open.

NORTON, Mass. – Rory McIlroy rallied from six shots behind Monday and closed with a 6-under 65 to win the Deutsche Bank Championship for his first PGA Tour victory of the year.

One week after working with a new putting coach and changing putters, results came quickly for McIlroy. He closed out the front nine with three straight birdies to take the lead and got up-and-down from a bunker for birdie on the final hole as a finishing touch.

Paul Casey, who started the final round at TPC Boston with a three-shot lead, needed to hole a 60-foot eagle putt on the 18th hole to force a playoff. Casey was trying to win on the PGA Tour for the first time since 2009.

McIlroy won for the 20th time in his career worldwide.

Brantford, Ont., native David Hearn closed with a 1 under for a share of eighth place. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., finished in a tie for 46th.

NORTON, Mass. – Paul Casey made a birdie and eagle over the last three holes Sunday for a 5-under 66 and a three-shot lead going into the Labour Day finish at the Deutsche Bank Championship.

Casey hit his tee shot to 5 feet for birdie on the par-3 16th, and then drilled a 3-iron into the swirling wind on the par-5 18th, and it worked out perfectly. It landed just left of the green, caught a ridge and rolled to 30 inches for the eagle.

He was at 15-under 198.

Brian Harman was second after a 68, and PGA champion Jimmy Walker, Kevin Chappell and Smylie Kaufman were four shots back.

The starting times for Monday were moved because remnants of Hermine were expected to produce 35 mph wind and rain.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., shot a 69 and is tied for 11th at 8 under. Adam Hadwin (73) of Abbotsford, B.C., is well back in a tie for 61st.

NORTON, Mass. – Kevin Chappell did just about everything right Saturday, even when making his lone bogey, on his way to a 7-under 64 that gave him a one-shot lead in the Deutsche Bank Championship and another chance at his first PGA Tour victory.

Chappell pitched in for eagle on No. 7 and made a 35-foot birdie putt on the next hole. Even better was the 15-foot bogey putt on the 13th hole, and his great escape from a bad shot when trying to lay up on the par-5 18th.

He was at 11-under 131, one shot ahead of PGA champion Jimmy Walker (64) and Paul Casey (66).

Dustin Johnson was poised to join Chappell in the lead until an approach into the woods led to double bogey on the par-5 closing hole.

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., stayed in contention with his second-straight round of 68. He’s at 6 under and in a tie for 13th. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot a 72 and is 2 over for the event.

NORTON, Mass. – Ryan Moore changed his schedule to pile up tournaments at the end of the year with hopes of getting into a rhythm going into the FedEx Cup playoffs.

He has no complaints with the results.

Moore backed up a good start to the playoffs with a 6-under 65 on Friday to share the first-round lead with James Hahn on a day when hardly anyone seemed too far away. After one round at the TPC Boston, 37 players were separated by three shots.

Phil Mickelson would be an exception.

Mickelson, who leads the PGA Tour in adjusted scoring average and said he wanted to win the Vardon Trophy for the first time in his career, took two swipes out of high grass in a water hazard to no avail, finally took a drop and made a quadruple-bogey 8 on the sixth hole. That sent him to 75 and in third-to-last place.

Moore and Hahn played bogey-free on a breezy day that allowed for good scoring, even though no one went terribly low. They were one shot ahead of Paul Casey and Fabian Gomez. The average score was 69.67 as 80 of the 97 players in the field were at par or better.

As usual, there were Ryder Cup implications.

Jim Furyk, J.B. Holmes and Daniel Berger were in the group at 67, all of them to make an impression before Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III starts filling out the U.S. team with three picks in 10 days. Holmes finished 10th in the standings, while Furyk was at No. 15 even though he four months recovering from wrist surgery.

Love has said every American in the Deutsche Bank Championship would be on his radar, though Moore isn’t even thinking about it. His main goal is to get to the Tour Championship for the FedEx Cup finale, and this stacked schedule at the end of the year is working in his favor.

Along with a victory in the John Deere Classic, he tied for seventh last week at The Barclays to move to No. 11 in the FedEx Cup.

“I like how I’ve been feeling with my game,” Moore said. “This is actually the sixth tournament in a row, which I don’t think I’ve ever done in my entire career on the PGA Tour. I’m getting some positive momentum going into these events. How I’ve been doing it these last few years kind of wasn’t working so I decided to change it up and play a lot more and make a final push and then I know I get a little break.

“It seems to be working, whatever that decision was.”

Emiliano Grillo and Adam Scott played together and each shot 67, though they finished differently. Grillo hit a 4-iron into the hazard on the par-5 18th, took a drop and holed out with a wedge for birdie, looking blankly as the crowd roared before throwing down his club in mock surrender. Scott hit into a greenside bunker with his second shot, had a terrible lie and took two shots to get out in saving par.

“I should have chunked a 4-iron. That’s the way to make birdie,” Scott said with a laugh.

Jordan Spieth played with them and shot a 68, saying after his round he somehow was losing some 30 yards off his driver and would try to figure out why. Barclays winner Patrick Reed and Dustin Johnson also were at 68.

Jason Day, the world No. 1, opened with a 70 and then discovered his wife and two children were involved in a car accident near their travel bus. Day said his wife was taken to the hospital as a precaution, though everyone seemed to be OK.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup advance after this week, and it was a big start for Furyk and Steve Stricker. Furyk is at No. 84, while Stricker barely made it into the field at No. 97. Both opened at 67.

Furyk is more concerned with getting to the BMW Championship next week than his Ryder Cup lot.

“There’s really nothing you can do but go play well,” Furyk said. “So I’m going to try to do my best not to really pay too much attention to the scoreboard and go play golf and worry about the process more than the golf.”

Stricker went to a different putter, a rare move for him, switching to a face-balanced model after his wife noticed last week he had trouble keeping it square. He decided to give it shot on Friday, and it paid off. His hope is that he gets to keep playing for at least seven more rounds.

“My goal this year was just to finish in the top 125 and get back into some of the tournaments that I had been play – The Players Championship, some of the majors. Then once I did that … you know, we’re all competitive. We all want to keep playing.”

David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Adam Hadwin from Abbotsford, B.C., opened with matching 68s and hold shares of 20th.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Patrick Reed picked up two victories in one day. He won The Barclays to assure himself a clear shot at the $10 million bonus in the FedEx Cup, and he easily secured a spot on his second straight U.S. Ryder Cup team.

Rickie Fowler, with a surprising meltdown, walked away empty from Bethpage Black.

Reed overcame an early two-shot deficit and built a big enough lead on the back nine that some nervous shots and sloppy play didn’t keep him from winning for the first time since the 2015 opener at Kapalua. A bogey on the final hole gave him a 1-under 70 and a one-shot victory over Sean O’Hair and Emiliano Grillo.

“It’s just been great to finally be able to close one off,” Reed said.

Fowler still hasn’t won in four tries as a 54-hole leader on the PGA Tour, and this one might sting. He was still in contention, two shots behind with four holes to play, and at least figured to have one of the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team locked up. Fowler needed to finish third to move past Zach Johnson into the eighth spot in the U.S. standings, and he was two shots clear of O’Hair and Grillo.

His tee shot into deep rough left of the 15th fairway led to bogey. From more rough on the 16th, he went into a bunker and took two shots to reach the green, making a double bogey. After a 20-foot birdie putt kept alive his hopes, he promptly found more rough on the 18th hole and finished with a bogey for a 74.

Fowler tied for seventh and moved up one spot to No. 11 in the standings.

“I wasn’t trying to get a decent finish,” Fowler said. “I was trying to win.”

Fowler still has a reasonable chance to be at Hazeltine on Sept. 30 for the Ryder Cup because Davis Love III doesn’t make his three captain’s picks until after the next two FedEx Cup playoff events. The fourth pick will be after the Tour Championship, so that’s another month to audition.

Reed, who finished at 9-under 275, wasn’t the only player who felt like a big winner.

O’Hair was among five players who moved into the top 100 in the FedEx Cup, advancing to the next playoff event at the TPC Boston that starts Friday. And he made a big move, closing with a 66 to tie for second. That moved him all the way up to No. 15, assuring two more playoff events and giving O’Hair a good shot at staying in the top 30 who qualify for the finale at the Tour Championship.

Grillo birdied the final hole for a 69 and moved to No. 6.

Defending champion Jason Day struggled all week with his accuracy and had to settle for a 69, tying for fourth with Gary Woodland (69) and Adam Scott (71).

Reed had gone 55 tournaments worldwide since starting 2015 with a victory at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions. A bogey on the par-3 third hole put him two shots behind Fowler, but not for long. Reed made three birdies on the next four holes to tie for the lead, and he seized control early on the back nine.

Fowler missed the 11th fairway and ended his streak of 55 consecutive holes without a bogey, losing the lead in the process. Reed holed a 12-foot birdie putt on the next hole for a two-shot lead, and Fowler never got any closer.

Sung Kang matched the course record with a 64 to move from No. 122 to No. 88. John Huh, Tyrone Van Aswegan and Derek Fathauer also moved into the top 100, while Shane Lowry, Peter Malnati, Robert Streb, Lucas Glover and Jonas Blixt fell out and ended their season.

The top 70 after next week advance to the third playoff event, with the top 30 going to East Lake for the Tour Championship.

With his victory, which moves Reed to No. 9 in the world ranking, Reed goes to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup. He will be assured of being in the top five who only have to win the Tour Championship to capture the $10 million prize.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Rickie Fowler kept bogeys off his card for the second straight day and closed with a 5-foot birdie putt for a 3-under 68, giving him a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed going into the final round of The Barclays.

Fowler has gone 45 holes without a bogey at Bethpage Black, the site of two U.S. Opens and among the toughest courses on the PGA Tour. Along with his three birdies Saturday, he made three par-saving putts of at least 10 feet, including one from 25 feet early in his round.

And he needed them all.

Reed overcame three bogeys in a four-hole stretch on the front nine and was tied for the lead on the back nine until the final two holes. Reed missed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th, and his 15-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole almost missed weakly to the right.

Fowler, who was at 9-under 204, now is in prime position to win for the first time on the PGA Tour in a year and play his way onto the U.S. Ryder Cup team.

This is the final tournament for Americans to earn one of the eight automatic spots for the Ryder Cup matches at Hazeltine at the end of next month. Fowler was at No. 12 going into the opening FedEx Cup event with its $8.5 million purse and needed at least a third-place finish to earn a spot.

His work is not done.

Reed, who is No. 8 in the Ryder Cup standings, settled into his round and wound up with a 71, putting him in the final group with Fowler. Right behind was Adam Scott, who also saw his share of putts go in, especially a 45-foot birdie on the 15th hole. Scott started out his round by holing a lob wedge from 98 yards for an eagle, and his 65 was the lowest score of the tournament.

Scott, who hasn’t seriously contended since his back-to-back victories in Florida five months ago, was two shots behind at 7-under 206. Martin Laird (69) and Emiliano Grillo (71) were three shots back, while Justin Thomas got into the game a 66 and was in the group at 5-under 208, which included defending champion Jason Day.

For Fowler, the timing could not have been better.

“It’s nice to finally see some putts go in,” Fowler said. “With a few putts going in, it frees up the rest of your game. I’ve been swinging well for a long time, and I’ve been waiting for the putter to catch up.”

Fowler won against a strong field in Abu Dhabi at the start of the year, and he lost a two-shot lead with two holes to play in the Phoenix Open. Since then, he hasn’t been much of a factor has his ranking _ in the FedEx Cup and the Ryder Cup _ began to plunge.

Not wanting to take a chance on being among the four captain’s picks, he has a chance Sunday to secure his spot for Hazeltine.

“It’s pretty simple,” Fowler said. “I’ve got to take care of business tomorrow. It’s been awhile since I’ve been in this position. It’s going to be tough tomorrow. We’re on one of the _ if not the _ toughest golf courses we play all year. It’s been a long time coming, and it’s going to be fun.”

Reed, dressed all in black on another scorching afternoon on Long Island, managed to escape with a bogey from a horrible lie right of the third green. He muffed a chip on the fifth hole and made bogey, then drove well right into a bunker and made another bogey on the sixth hole. He bounced back with a pair of birdies, and made all pars on the back nine. Considering the difficulty of the Black’s back nine, that was more than enough to stay in the game.

Scott can relate to how Fowler is feeling with the putter. He had no complaints with how he played tee-to-green, but he was getting aggravated with his putting. One good round, finally, changed his outlook.

“The front nine is the gettable nine, and to turn in 4 under set up my round,” Scott said. “I knew anything under par on the back, I would have a great round, and that was kind of my goal. I rolled a couple long ones in, and that felt good and kept the momentum going. Hopefully, something to build on for tomorrow and beyond.”

Day was hopeful of more than a 70 as the No. 1 player in the world tried to get into position. Birdies on the par 3s on the back nine helped atone for some wild tee shots, and he was still very much in the mix.

Jordan Spieth scrambled his way out of the rough and the sand. Spieth didn’t hit a fairway from the second hole until the 15th, yet he still played even par. But on the par-3 17th, he flubbed a chip and took double bogey, and a birdie on the final hole gave him a 72. He was six shots behind.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Patrick Reed’s place in the Ryder Cup is looking better with each round at The Barclays, and so are his prospects of winning.

Even with a careless finish Friday at Bethpage Black, Reed rode a fast start to a 3-under 68 and a two-shot lead over Emiliano Grillo and Rickie Fowler going into the weekend of the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.

The Barclays is the final tournament for Americans to earn one of the eight automatic spots on the Ryder Cup team. Reed, who has gone 55 tournaments worldwide since his last victory, came into the week at No. 8.

At the moment, that’s no longer a concern.

“Really, I’m going into this week trying to win a golf tournament,” Reed said. “If I take care of me and do what I need to do this week, then Ryder Cup will take care of itself. So I’m not going into this week looking at it as, ‘Oh, I need to do this for the Ryder Cup.’ I’m going in this to think, ‘All right, I need to go win a golf tournament.”’

Reed was at 8-under 134.

Fowler mostly likely needs third place alone to have any chance of qualifying for the Ryder Cup, and he has done his part. He played bogey-free in the sweltering heat, though still missing plenty of birdie chances. Par is never bad on the Black Course, however, and Fowler shot a 69.

He has dropped only one shot all week, missing a 4-foot par putt Thursday that spun out of the back of the cup.

“Any time you can go bogey-free out here at this place, it’s good golf,” Fowler said. “Feel very good about my ball-striking and tee-to-green right now. See if we can get some more putts to go in.”

Grillo also had a 69, opening with a double bogey and finishing with a bogey.

Ryan Moore (68) was three shots behind, while defending champion Jason Day (70) and Jordan Spieth (67) were four back.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., is in a tie for fifth after shooting a 68 to sit at 4 under for the tournament. David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., (70) and Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask. (72) just made the cut and are 3 over.

Day tied for the lead early in the round when he ran off four straight birdies on the easier front nine. But his tee shots got wild, he finished some swings with only one hand on the club, and he dropped four shots around the turn.

“I’m really looking forward to the weekend,” Day said. “I feel like I’m really close.”

Spieth missed the cut at The Barclays a year ago, and he started off Friday in that direction when his approach to the tough 10th buried in the lip of a deep bunker. Spieth had to play away from the green and made double bogey.

And then he decided to start over. His caddie, Michael Greller, told him to forget the hole ever happened and try to get those two shots back before making the turn. He eventually did, and then a lot more.

Spieth played shot 31 on the front nine, including a 6-iron that hopped out of the rough to 3 feet on the par-5 fourth hole for an eagle, and shot a 67 to get back into the mix. He still has a lot of ground to make up on Patrick Reed. Still, this round could have gotten away from him early.

“Resetting a goal there is really key for me to get my mind away from what happened and look forward,” Spieth said. “I know it’s such a tough golf course. It’s rare when we play tournaments on courses this challenging. Normally they’re majors. But 4 under makes up a lot of ground.”

It moved Spieth up to a tie for fifth, which beats having the weekend off.

Spieth is among the few who only have to think about the end of the FedEx Cup. He is No. 5 in the standings, and he already has clinched a spot on the Ryder Cup team.

The top 100 in the FedEx Cup advance to the next playoff event outside Boston next week, and 13 players outside the top 100 were eliminated when they didn’t advance to the weekend. As for the Ryder Cup, three players who missed the cut can no longer qualify _ Bill Haas, Kevin Na and Daniel Summerhays.

Bethpage, host of the U.S. Open twice, showed how it can punish bad shots. Kevin Chappell one shot behind until he went bogey-double bogey-bogey to finish his round, posting a 72. Reed could have avoided his own sloppy finish. He three-putted from 30 feet on No. 16, bounced back with a 5-iron to 2 feet for birdie on the 17th, and then opted for driver on the closing hole.

He was thinking 3-iron off the tee to play short of the bunkers. His caddie suggested driver for a shorter shot into the green, particularly because Reed had hit driver beautifully over the previous hour. This one went enough left to find a bunker, however, leading to another bogey.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Patrick Reed didn’t break anything Thursday except par.

Two days after Reed broke the gavel during the ceremonial closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, the American kept a clean card and shot 5-under 66 to share the lead with Martin Laird at The Barclays.

Reed was dressed in a blue blazer with an American tie when he was asked to bang the gavel three times at the stock exchange closing on Tuesday. On the third hit, the top of the gavel flew off into the crowd, and Reed later made a joke at his own expense on Twitter.

“They told me to give it 3 good hits, so I did!” he tweeted.

He was much better with a golf club in hand at Bethpage Black, running off three birdies and an eagle on the front nine to close out his 66.

The start of the FedEx Cup playoffs, with a $10 million bonus waiting at the end, was more about a cup that doesn’t pay a dime. A dozen or so Americans are still in the mix to make the Ryder Cup team. Qualifying ends after this week for the top eight, and then Davis Love III has four captain’s picks over the next month.

Reed is winless this year and holding down the No. 8 position in the Ryder Cup standings.

“Of course it’s on my mind,” Reed said. “But really at the end of the day, it’s just trying to get better and play this tournament. Because if I play well, that means those other guys are going to have to play even better to try to catch me.”

Reed and Laird, who also played bogey-free, were one shot ahead of three other Ryder Cup hopefuls – Rickie Fowler, Kevin Chappell and J.B. Holmes, whose 67 was the best score among those who played in stronger wind in the afternoon. Defending champion Jason Day, the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, was among those at 68.

Of the 18 players who broke 70, five played late.

Chappell likely would have to win The Barclays to make the team, while Fowler needs at least a two-way tie for fourth to have a mathematical chance. Fowler went from Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics to North Carolina for the Wyndham Championship to help his cause, but only tied for 22nd.

“That’s the No. 1 priority coming into the year,” Fowler said. “I’d say that’s always one of the main goals coming into a Ryder Cup year. Even in the off year, you’re thinking about it. That was the whole reason playing last week, trying to get more points. It would be nice to have a chance to make that team without having to get picked.”

Holmes dropped to No. 9 last week. He has made his points mainly through the majors – a tie for fourth at the Masters, third at the British Open – but as he got closer to making the team, the pressure has increased. He has missed the cut in his last three events, and he couldn’t afford another one.

He spent two hours on the putting green looking for a solution, and might have found it.

“It was really good,” he said. “Had to stay calm today and tried to let go of the results,” Holmes said.

Laird is only interested in the FedEx Cup.

The Barclays is the start of a four-tournament series in which the field size shrinks until 30 qualify for the finale at the Tour Championship. Laird started at No. 89, and with only the top 100 in the standings advancing, starting well was crucial.

He also played bogey-free at Bethpage Black on a warm day with the wind picking up late in the morning as he was making the turn.

U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson, the No. 2 seed in the FedEx Cup, recovered from a bogey-bogey start to post a 70, while Adam Scott (No. 3) shot 69.

Abbotsford, B.C., native Adam Hadwin trails Scott by one stroke in a tie for 20th following a first-round 1-under 70. Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., recorded a 73, while David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., closes out the Canadian contingent at 75.

Jordan Spieth played for the first time since the PGA Championship and didn’t feel much rust as he made three birdies in seven holes. Bethpage is relentless, and so was the wind, and when the Texan struggled to find fairways, he started dropping shots. Spieth wound up with a 71.

“It’s up there in the top few toughest courses I’ve ever played,” Spieth said. “If they made the greens firm today, it would have been unplayable on a few holes. It was very tough, challenging, but fair today. We just had it really, really tough in the afternoon with those winds so high.”

Henrik Stenson (right knee) and Brett Stegmaier (wrist) withdrew, dropping the field to 119 out of 125 players. Stenson is No. 14 in the FedEx Cup and was always planning to skip one playoff event. Stegmaier is No. 101, so his season is over. … Russell Knox, battling bad congestion, opened with a 73. The Scot is hopeful of being a captain’s pick for Europe’s team. Darren Clarke makes three selections on Tuesday. Graeme McDowell opened with a 72, while Luke Donald had a 69.