Well Patrick Reed was at again this week. Early in the week he tried to make friends with Rory McIlroy and when Rory gives him the cold shoulder he tosses a tee at him and walks away. Tee Gate begins and comes to end just before the tournament starts. Reed is just a PITA.
Fast forward to 17 on Saturday and Reed’s ball get lodged in a palm tree and calls in an Official(s) to give him a ruling. Using binoculars they look up in the tree to find the ball which Reed said was marked with a black arrow.Surprise, they find one and the officials (s) give him a ruling, unplayable lie under penalty of one stroke, takes his drop and plays the hole and makes bogey.Here is where the fun starts.
First of all a tournament that has a multi million dollar purse, who does not remove lodged golf balls from trees in play is inexcusable. Sure it is cool looking, but you would not see that at Augusta. Two, from the replays that I saw on Golf Channel and Sports-centre, none of his playing partners were present. They made the assumption that the rules officials were taking care of business. Wrong! Every player must protect the field because there is so much money at stake one stroke can be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Three, Reed never produced a ball to the rules officials showing him his markings. Four, when he dropped he did not declare to his group what the markings on the ball were. The potential for another situation was huge if he hit off line again and he was unable to identify the ball. Five, given the fact that Reed has a ” questionable relationship” with the rules of golf, he should have been scrutinised closer given the fact that Reed and Marshall’s said the ball was in the third tree and not the first as TV replays showed. The third tree clearly gave him better relief, advantage Reed.
I do not care if what tour you play on PGA, DP World, LIV, Korn Ferry it is every players responsibility to protect the field and the players in Reed’s group did not do that. As I mentioned earlier it is well documented that he has had a “questionable relationship” with the rules. Reed still believes he did nothing wrong, just as he did at the Hero World Challenge and last years Farmers Insurance Open. Both were clear rules violations and he got off on both occasions. They just enabling him.
We all have our theories on what to do. Mine would be send a rules official around with him and have him keep his card. I would refuse to sign his card because I can not in all good conscience trust the number he gave me. That is how I would protect the field.
I am sure Greg Norman is really happy to have him as an ambassador for the LIV Tour.
Sorry, senior moment !
Until next time.
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