Reed shares lead at Farmers event
Golfer dodges another rules issue to finish with 70
Patrick Reed was involved in another rules controversy Saturday in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. He also had a share of the lead with Carlos Ortiz.
On the par-4 10th, Reed hit a 190-yard shot out of a bunker with a TV replay showing the ball bounced once before settling into the rough. Believing the ball didn’t bounce, Reed picked it up to see if it was embedded before a rules official arrived. Reed told the official that no one in his group, as well as a nearby volunteer, saw it bounce.
Reed was awarded a free drop and saved par. He bogeyed four of the next seven holes before birdieing No. 18 for a 2-under 70 and a share of the lead with Ortiz at 10 under. Ortiz had a 66 on the
South Course.
In December 2019 in Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, Reed was penalized two strokes for appearing to deliberately improve his lie in a bunker.
“It’s an unfortunate situation obviously, but at the end of the day when you finish a round and the head rules official comes up to you and has the video and shows everything that
went down to the whole group and says that you’ve done this perfectly, you did this the exact right way, the protocols you did were spot on, at that point, you know, I feel great about it,” Reed said.
“The ball just disappeared. None of us saw it bounce,” said Reed, who added that a nearby volunteer told him that it did not bounce. “I looked at my group and said, ‘Guys, she didn’t see it bounce it, either, so I’m going to mark this ball and see if it’s embedded.’
“Once I marked it, the first thing I wanted to do was make sure I got the ball out of my hand because you don’t want to clean it or anything because
you don’t know if it’s embedded yet. When I put my finger down there and felt like it has broken ground, the first thing you do is call the rules official. … The rules official said, ‘Yes, this ball has broken the plane.’ ”
European PGA: Paul Casey hit a 3-iron to 10 feet and holed the eagle putt to complete a bogeyfree 8-under 64 in the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic, giving the Englishman a onestroke lead as he seeks a 15th win on the European Tour. Casey made four birdies in his first seven holes at Emirates Golf
Club before finishing birdie-eagle for the low round of the day that lifted him above Scotland’s Robert Macintyre (67) onto 15 under par overall. Brandon Stone of South Africa shot 66 and was a shot further back at 13 under.