Third-round co-leader Patrick Reed found himself dealing with another rules issue Saturday at the Farmers Insurance Open when he sought relief for a built-in ball – which the TV show first kissed – and then picked up the ball before an official rule could arrive.
Reed, the 2018 Masters champion who was accused of cheating, is after him after an incident at the 2019 World Hero Challenge, he fired his approach from a fairway bunker on the left, at the 10th hole in Torrey Pines from San Diego.
A ball embedded anywhere in the green, except in sandy areas, is entitled to a free drop, which Reed sought. But replays showed that the ball bounced first before sitting in the hard.
CBS analyst Nick Faldo questioned how a ball could be incorporated – or clogged – if it had jumped first.
Due to the heavy rains from the tournament, the round was played with favorite lies, or “pick up, clean and place”. But this only applies to balls that are on the fairway.
To make matters worse, Reed picked up the ball – which should have been allowed only if his playmates, Robby Shelton and Will Gordon, had been consulted and allowed him to do so. It wasn’t clear if Reed asked them or if they answered.
Reed could be heard telling the rules official that his ball did not bounce, but he refused to watch the replays. “I checked it out and I think the field started,” Reed told tournament regulator Brad Fabel. “Since I picked it up to check, it looks like the field has started. They said he didn’t jump. “
Reed said in a post-tour interview that a tournament volunteer told him the ball did not bounce; and explained that he picked up the ball and scored it because no one saw the ball bounce and tried to determine if it was incorporated. When Fabel checked the area, he determined that Reed was allowed the exemption.
This gave Reed the ability to clean the ball and leave it at a club length. He took the ball up and down for a tie and is tied for the lead with Carlos Ortiz after shooting in the third round 70.
The official rules official, Ken Tackett, explained during the CBS broadcast that, since it was established that the ball was incorporated, it did not matter if he jumped for the first time. Faldo questioned him, and CBS chief broadcaster Jim Nantz called him a “bad look.”
At the 2019 Hero World Challenge, Reed underwent huge scrutiny after it was determined that he “improved his lie” in a waste area when he pulled his club back while taking the training swings. he accepted the punishment, but maintained another angle of the room would have exonerated him.
Reed endured a considerable challenge next week at the Presidents’ Cup, and the gift and his brother-in-law, Kessler Karain, even got into an altercation with a spectator, leading to the PGA Tour, suspending him from last-day action.