“The only other time I’ve ever been in a tree…” - Patrick Reed reacts to ruling after his ball got stuck in a tree
Sunday was quite eventful for Patrick Reed at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. He shot the score of 3-under-69 for the third round at the Emirates GC, Dubai. He shot 6 birdies along with a single bogey and a double bogey to finish the third day at the T-4 position.
However, this wasn't the highlight of the day. Over the last week, Reed has been actively in the news for unwanted reasons. News of him throwing a tee towards Rory McIlroy was all over the internet last week.
During the Par 4 17th hole of the third round, Reed's tee shot lodged the ball into the palm tree and got stuck there. The DP World Tour's chief referee then accompanied him to locate the ball and he was allowed to take the penalty shot from that point. If the ball had not been found, he would have had to go back to the tee position to take third shot.
After the conclusion of Round 3 at Emirates G.C., Patrick faced all the questions related to the controversy and answered them. He said he was 100% sure and if he wasn't, he would have gone back to the tee to take the shot.
"I got lucky that we were able to look through the binoculars and you have to make sure it’s your ball," Reed told Telegraph Sport. "And how I mark my golf balls is I always put an arrow on the end of my line, because the Pro VI, the arrow on the end stop before it, so you can see the arrow."
As per him, one can see and identify the line with an arrow on the end. He also said that thankfully, the official was with him to verify that his call was correct.
"The only other time I’ve ever been in a tree was in Malaysia. Actually there’s a picture of [Sergio Garcia] and I underneath [Reed's caddie, Kessler Karain]," Reed added. "He’s up literally in the palm tree looking at my golf ball. You know what, I hit that tee shot, I didn’t even see those palms. I felt like it was on a good line, just left of the green and I guess I just need to be a little more right or a little higher.”
Not the first time for Patrick Reed to be caught in golf rule controversy
This is not the first time Patrick Reed has gotten involved in a controversy related to golf rules. In 2019, Reed received a 2-stroke penalty at the Hero World Challenge after PGA Tour officials found he broke Rule 8.1a (4) by altering sand in a waste bunker with two practice swings.
In 2021 at the Farmers Insurance Open, there was a dispute over whether Reed was entitled to relief for an embedded ball, but PGA Tour rules officials confirmed he followed the Rules of Golf.
Last week he got involved in another controversy when he threw a tee at Rory McIlroy. Rory, who was not interested in any interaction with Reed as he had recently received a subpoena from the American on Christmas Eve, was trying to avoid him. This irked Patrick and he threw a tee at McIlroy. Quite an eventful week for Patrick Reed.