Patrick Reed Unveils His True Character In The Albany Sand

On a sunny Saturday in the Bahamas, Patrick Reed showed us who he is when no one is looking.

Or when he thinks no one is looking.

By now millions have seen the infamous incident at the par five 11th hole at the Albany Golf Club, third round of Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge.

Reed’s second on the par five had settled into the waste area sand, a full third of the ball was sitting in the proverbial “fried egg” lie.

It’s totally legal to ground your club in those waste areas, totally legal to take practice swing and hit said sand.  But what Reed proceeded to do was totally mind-numbing.  The 2018 Masters champion proceeded to place his wedge behind the ball and then swiped the sand away from the back of the ball — not once, but twice.  And we’re talking enough sand to open a clear pathway to the back of the golf ball.  No longer was it a “fried egg.”  Reed basically made it a much, much easier shot with a clean look at the back of the golf ball.

He did it with his lackey, yes-man brother-in-law caddie looking on, witnessing the fiasco.  Fiasco is kind.

Had the television cameras not zoomed in close-up for everyone to see, no doubt Reed would have said nothing,  he would have went on and shot his 72.  In a game where honorable men call penalties on themselves, there’s little doubt Reed would have said nothing.

PGA Tour officials took him aside after his round, showed the clear evidence and hit him with a two-shot penalty.  His 72 became 74 and on Saturday afternoon, he’d finish exactly two shots behind tournament winner Henrik Stenson.

Worst of all, Reed was in total denial of the violation.  Reed tried to play the victim card, something he resorts to when controversy swirls. His denial cast the harsh shadow on his already questionable character.  Go ahead and sew the big Scarlett Letter on his chest — a large “C” — as in Cheater.

It’s the worst thing you can call a professional golfer.  Let’s say it again — Cheater!

Reed claims he didn’t see any sand move.  It was so blatant, so evident that Ray Charles would have seen it.  fact is, players of Reed’s level can FEEL the sand move, feel the resistance to the back of the club.  Tiger Woods’ feel is so incredible that he once felt a small air bubble in the tape underneath a club that had just been regripped.  When the grip was removed, the tiny air bubble was discovered.

Forget that “Captain America” moniker.  It’s foolish.  His Scarlett Letter does begin with a capital “C” — but it stands for Cheater.

This wasn’t a one-time incident.  The Golf Channel   worked its magic and dug out a clip of Reed at the 2015 Hero World Challenge and once again, he took a practice swing in a waste area and moved sand from the back of his golf ball.

In 2015, author Shane Ryan wrote a book entitled:  Slaying The Tiger:  A Year Inside The Ropes On The PGA Tour. There’s a chapter on Patrick Reed.  Ryan introduces Reed as a child prodigy who would challenge others’ golf talents upon meeting them, and not in a good way.  He was a loner whose was obsessed with winning.

Here’s an excerpt from Ryan’s chapter on Reed:

Like Bubba Watson, Reed quickly drifted outside the Bulldogs’ tight inner circle.

When he explained to me what went wrong in his freshman season, Reed chalked it up to being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of people in such a small area, leading him to seek out a more comfortable environment.

The truth isn’t quite so simple. The full story, from sources who prefer to remain anonymous, shines a light on a golfer who veered completely out of control in his one year at Georgia. Everything O’Connor said about his personality quirks was true—he alienated his teammates immediately with displays of arrogance, and he had an unapologetic way of practicing and playing apart from the team. If that were the only issue, though, he might have merely remained an irksome presence. It wasn’t, he didn’t, and the situation grew much worse.

During a qualifying round prior to a tournament, according to sources, Reed hit a ball far into the rough. When he approached the spot, he found another ball sitting closer to the fairway, and was preparing to hit it when several of his teammates confronted him. Reed pled ignorance, but the other Georgia players were convinced he had been caught red-handed trying to cheat. That same fall, several items went missing from the Georgia locker room, including a watch, a Scotty Cameron putter, and $400 cash. When Reed showed up the next day with a large wad of cash, sources say a teammate confronted him and asked how he’d come by the money. Reed said he’d played golf with a professor at the school and hustled him out of the cash. The player in question took this claim to the professor, who had no idea what he was talking about—it had been weeks since the man had played with Reed.

Again, no action was taken, but as far as his teammates were concerned, Reed was guilty of cheating and thieving. Even now, on Tour, a source told me that there’s a private joke among certain players when Reed enters a locker room: “Hide your things,” they tell each other. “Patrick’s here.”

Reed was eventually kicked off Georgia’s team and wound up at Augusta State, where he was a part of back-to-back national championships.

However, Ryan detailed how Reed was despised by teammates at Augusta State, where he was again caught cheating. While Reed wasn’t directly punished for the incident at Georgia, he was suspended for two tournaments at Augusta State.

There you have it, some of the back-story on Patrick Reed.

Yes, not only is this latest “incident” disturbing, it’s pretty much a picture of who Patrick Reed is.

A man and player of questionable character?

You be the judge.