SAN DIEGO – Patrick Reed found himself involved in another rules controversy, but this time the rules book was on his side.
After hitting his drive in a bunker and pulling his approach, he shot wildly left and rough in par-4 10º hole Saturday at Torrey Pines, Reed determined that his ball was embedded after being informed by a nearby volunteer that it did not bounce when it landed.
Reed marked where his golf ball had stopped and picked it up before calling rules officer Brad Fabel, who agreed that Reed’s golf ball was in place and he was entitled to relief. After falling, Reed fell to 14 feet and putt the pair.
“At that point, when you have three players, three caddies and the volunteer really close to the golf ball without seeing the ball bounce, you have to follow what everyone sees and what everyone sees,” said Reed. “When no one saw this, the rules officer basically says whether it’s free relief or not, and the rules officer agrees that the ball broke the plane and it was relief.”
Social media started backing down after a replay clearly showed that Reed’s ball had bounced before it hit the field. After the round, another rules official, John Mutch, showed the video to Reed and the other two players in his group, Will Gordon and Robby Shelton, to confirm the decision.
“He operated in the way that the rules allow him to operate,” said Mutch. “It is similar to virtual certainty, under the incorporated ball it is called ‘reasonable to complete’, but if you hit the ball in a penalty area and are playing with some of your friends and you are pretty sure that the ball went where went and you operate under the penalty area rule and later on, someone in a group of two groups behind you says, ‘Hey, I found your ball on the left side’, well, you’re not under any penalty because you were practically sure in the penal area and you proceeded according to the rules. “
Why did Reed catch the ball on the 10th hole in Farmers
Gordon and Shelton declined to comment.
Reed, who led the Farmers Insurance Open by four strokes after making the comeback on Saturday, fought back nine with four bogeys on his way to a third round 70 for a part of the lead with Carlos Ortiz 10 below.
This is not the first time that Reed has been involved in a controversial rules situation. Most notably, Reed seemed to improve his lie in a bunker and was penalized with two strokes at Hero World Challenge 2019, although he said at the time “it’s my word against their word”.