Patrick Reed in Open title hunt with Ryder Cup team mate Spieth

Washington: American Patrick Reed will tee off in Saturday`s third round at the U.S. Open excited to be in a tie for the lead with his Ryder Cup team mate Jordan Spieth but not so thrilled about how he landed in the marquee pairing.

Though Reed caught world number two Spieth at the top after carding a one-under-par 69 in difficult scoring conditions on a firming Chambers Bay layout, he was frustrated to offset five birdies and an eagle with six bogeys during a rollercoaster second round.

"I actually felt it was a pretty disappointing round," the 24-year-old told reporters after ending the day level with Spieth at five-under 135. "To have six bogeys, I didn`t get up and down once.

"I need to clean that up. Now I feel like I`ll go make a birdie and then give it right away. You can`t do that here.

"If I didn`t do that, I would have a four or five-shot lead."

Reed has already established himself as one of the best players in the game, clinching his fourth PGA Tour title at the winners-only Hyundai Tournament of Champions at Kapalua in January.

With that success, he joined Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia as the only players over the past 20 years to have won four times on the U.S. circuit under the age of 25 and has since set his sights on a first major victory.

"I`m hitting my tee shots pretty solid, I feel very confident with the driver," Reed, the world number 15, said of his form at Chambers Bay.

"I feel like I`m swinging as hard as I want to and it`s going to be on the fairway. When you can play on the fairway you have chances."

Reed partnered Spieth at last year`s Ryder Cup in Scotland where they gelled superbly as a team and he was eager to be once again paired with the Masters champion for the third round.

"It`s going to be fun, anytime I play with Jordan I enjoy it," said Reed, who landed the biggest title of his career at last year`s elite WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral.

"The main thing for me is to stay focused and focus on what I need to do to play some good golf. And plot my way around this golf course, especially if it gets firmer and faster and knowing where to leave the golf ball."