Patrick Reed and Carlos Ortiz sit atop the scoreboard after 54-holes but it was Reed’s dip into the Cauldron Of Controversy that was the talk of Saturday at the Farmers Insurance Open.
Once again Reed made a testy move at the par four 10th hole after making the turn at five-under par for the day and moving away from the field at 13-under par. After his drive found a fairway bunker, Reed hooked his second into some deep rough left of the green. The nearest volunteer didn’t see what happened to Reed’s ball as he claimed it went straight down into the high stuff when, in fact, it hit, took a soft bounce and settled back down from a three-foot bounce.
Reed looked over at his fellow players and said his ball was plugged and he immediately picked it up without the benefit of third party eyes to watch. There was no rules official present and Reed failed to ask one of the other players over to look at the lie. Instead, he picked the ball up and called for a rules official. After explaining to the rules official what he thought had happened, the official inspected where Reed pointed and agreed that he saw a small possible plug mark and let Reed take a free drop within a club length. Reed went on to get up-and-down to save par but soon after, suffered four bogeys on his way to the 18th.
Reed bogeyed the 11th, 13th, 114th and 16th and put himself in positions where even his stellar shot game could not save him.
Up ahead, Ortiz shot the low round of the afternoon, a six-under par 66 that got him in the house at 10-under par. Reed did managed to birdie the 18th to share a piece of the lead with Ortiz and spent most of the rest of his afternoon explaining his side of what transpired at the 10th hole.
CBS analyst Nick Faldo was aghast saying that it came down to physics: “I’ve never seen one (a ball) imbed on a second bounce.” It appeared that Faldo had a point. Reed’s ball hit then took a very soft second bounce, not one that could have caused the ball to plug.
But it became a moot point when the PGA Tour official agreed with Reed, ending any possibility of a rules violation. But Red did violate golf protocol by not brining a playing partner in to see the lie before he picked the ball up.
Reed and Ortiz go into the final 18 with a two-shot advantage over five players, including world’s No. 2 Jon Rahm. Rahm was frustrated for most of the afternoon and could only shoot an even-par 72 to finish where he started at eight-under par. Overnight leader Viktor Hovland birdied 18 for a 73 to join Rahm. Adam Scott once again struck it great but his putting kept him from holding the solo lead. All he could do was card 72 and like Rahm, finished where he started at eight-under. Lanto Griffin missed a seven-footer for birdie at the 18th that would have put him in the final group on Sunday. Instead, Sam Burns (70) was the first to post eight-under and will join Ortiz and Reed in the final threesome.
Rory McIlroy gained ground with a two-under par 70 and will start the final round just three back along with Sam Ryder and Will Zalatoris.
