'Absolutely insane': Golfer Patrick Reed accused of 'cheating' again
Controversial golfer Patrick Reed is involved in yet another ‘cheating’ scandal after he was accused of picking up his ball to move the lay before officials could judge whether it was embedded.
Reed, who last year was involved in cheating scandal when fans accused him of improving his lie, was again embroiled in controversy at the Farmers Insurance Open.
WOW: Greg Norman breaks silence over infamous beach photo
'INSANE': Paige Spiranac defends Tiger Woods over cheating scandal
The American hit the ball off the fairway at the 10th hole and Reed himself deemed the ball did not bounce and was embedded in the ground.
But replays showed the ball bounced once before it landed in some thick grass.
Reed arrived at the ball and asked a volunteer if it bounced. The volunteer said: “No, I didn’t see it bounce.”
However, controversy erupted when Reed took it upon himself to move the ball after he announced he’s going to check the ball.
Reed put it down in a different position and called over the rules official. Reed told the rules official the ball didn’t bounce and asks him to assess if the ball broke ground.
The rules official concurred the ball broke ground and granted Reed embedded ball relief.
This is Reed’s ball ON THE BOUNCE! And he got embedded ball relief! pic.twitter.com/NPN5GfpmSM
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 30, 2021
Reed goes up and down for par with a much better lie.
Fans, including CBS analysts, questioned whether Reed was right picking up the ball before an official arrived.
Many fans on social media accused Reed of ‘cheating’ and said the ball bounced, which called the ability of the ball to be embedded into question.
If that ball was ruled embedded, every player should call a rules official to check every shot in the rough. #PGATour
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) January 30, 2021
Death, taxes, Patrick Reed cheating. At some point @PGATOUR needs to look at how these consistent/flagrant incidents ultimately impact their brand. https://t.co/4FUvbgQLCt
— Grayson Jarvis (@JarvisWeather) January 31, 2021
This is absolutely insane! There's not one good reason for him to have already picked up the ball. I can't believe they've moved on from this so quickly.
Especially if the tour is going to encourage gambling, how can they let stuff like this continue to happen? https://t.co/HvW08mMuty— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 30, 2021
How can he possibly get away with moving the ball before the official arrives? https://t.co/UQOhHOisxv
— Darren (@DrBlackVelvet) January 30, 2021
Tough for Adam Scott’s popularity to go up... BUT a smack down of cheating Patrick Reed would do it this weekend. Reed concocts story for rules official that this ball went straight into the ground and never bounced... https://t.co/NyG6PKADZy
— Brenton Speed (@BrentonSpeed) January 30, 2021
I don’t think it’s cheating when it’s Patrick Reed. That’s just Patrick Reed in his natural state https://t.co/wg8bZFmvRz
— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) January 31, 2021
@PGATOUR it’s absolutely incredible how much Patrick Reed believes he is not cheating. Surprised he doesn’t throw his back out shoveling all that BS. #patrickreed @PaigeSpiranac
— MJ (@BankersLoveNaps) January 30, 2021
How the HELL is that the perfect sequence of events? Wouldn't the PERFECT sequence be to have someone with you when you pick up the ball?
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) January 30, 2021
Am I missing something here? This isn't even trying to hide cheating. Why is he touching the ball and why is there no penalty on this?
Can we all hope Patrick Reed shoots an 80 or higher tomorrow? https://t.co/c0pPYP0jHp— Mitchell Blair (@mblairYQR) January 30, 2021
Reed denies wrongdoing over 10th hole incident
Reed later defended his involvement and said the officials had no issue with the incident.
“When we’re out there, we can’t see everything,” Reed told CBS.
“When that happens, you have to go by what the volunteers say, what the rules officials say. When all comes push and shove, we feel like we did the right thing and the rules official said we did it absolutely perfectly.
Patrick Reed gives a full walk-through of his situation on No. 10. pic.twitter.com/2crxsKFLzC
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) January 30, 2021
“With that being said, we moved on and just continued playing.”
Reed has been embroiled in ‘cheating’ accusations before.
Perhaps the most famous of those incident came at last year's Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas when he was caught grounding his club in a bunker before hitting the ball - something that is completely against the rules of the sport.
Click here to sign up to our newsletter for all the latest and breaking stories from Australia and around the world.
