Breach of rules: Patrick Reed is accused of ‘cheating ‘again
Patrick Reed has become embroiled in yet more controversy, with commentators and fans lining up to accuse him of playing fast and loose with golf’s rules once again.
Reed’s sweeping of sand during practice shots in a bunker at the 2019 Hero World Challenge were widely slammed as flagrant cheating and, while criticism rained down on him again on Saturday night, he even attempted to hit back amid his latest storm by dragging Rory McIlroy into the argument.
The 30-year-old American was leading the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines when he picked up a ball he claimed was embedded below ground in thick rough, before a rules official was able to look at the ball as it lay.
The former Masters champion had hit a wild shot short and left of the green on the par-4 10th hole in his third round, and video replays showed that the ball had bounced in the rough before it came to a rest, making it all but impossible for the ball to have embedded
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Reed claimed that neither he nor his playing partners, Will Gordon and Robby Shelton, and their caddies had seen the ball bounce, and also asked a nearby tournament marshall whether she had seen his ball bounce.