America’s Least Favorite Golfer once again gave the world reason to dislike him after his 11th hole shenanigans Friday at the Hero World Challenge.
Patrick Reed was hit with a two-shot penalty after his third round for basically, totally, improving his lie in a waste area on the par 1th hole.
Reed started the third round with a three-shot lead after consecutive 66s at the lush Albany Golf Club. After 10 straight pars, he hooked his second shot into a sandy waste area on the par five. His ball settled down into the sand, a fried-egg kinda situation if you will. Reed then proceeded to take two practice swings and with each practice swing, moved sand away from the back of his golf ball, creating a sand-free entry way for his club.
Reed would end up with bogey on the hole, but his sand excavation project was caught on the television cameras. Former PGA Tour player Bill Kratzert was watching Reed’s antics and was astounded: “What are you thinking?” Kratzert said. “He gave himself better access to the back of the ball,” Kratz added. And that’s exactly what Reed did. That resulting bogey started a problem run for Reed. He took two more bogeys at the 12th and 16th but came up with three birdies to post an even par round of 72 and looked to be in at 12-under.
PGA Tour officials summoned Reed to review the replay of his practice strokes. It’s legal to ground the club in a waste area, it’s not legal to push sand away from the back of the ball to improve the lie.
PGA Tour rules head honcho Slugger White confirmed the violation and added two shots to Reed’s score at 11, giving him a triple-bogey eight and a final 74 that dropped him to 10-under, three-behind playing partner Gary Woodland, who held the lead after moving day.
Reed didn’t appear very penitent after getting hit with the two-shot penalty. “At the end of the day, it’s my word vs. their word. They considered it a breach.”
Former PGA Tour player John Cook was flabbergast by Reed’s reaction. “You gotta take responsibility at some point,” Cook said emphatically.
This episode was just another controversy in the Reed resume. Before he became a professional, some of his former college teammates hinted that he cheated during his college days.
There was no missing this one. Reed had to realize what he was doing and his yes-man brother-in-law caddie stood right there and watched him do it.
“I didn’t intentionally do it,” Reed said tersely. But when you watch the replay, not only did he do it once, he did it twice!
Unintentional?
Hogwash!
Pure, unadulterated Hogwash!
