Reed defends ball tree ruling

At first it was a tee, now it’s a tree. It’s been a tough few days online for Patrick Reed. Social media erupted after he tossed a tee Rory McIlroy’s way on the driving range before this weekend’s DP World Tour stop at the 2023 Hero Dubai Desert Classic. During Sunday’s third round – early-week weather forced a Monday finish at Emirates Golf Club – Reed found himself in the spotlight again after a wayward drive on the par-4 17th hole.

Reed said he was “100% certain” his ball had landed in a tree and got stuck. From here he took a drop, scrambled for bogey, then made birdie on the par-5 18th to sign for a 3-under 69 to reach 11 under for the tournament, four shots off the leader McIlroy.

A golf coach shared video of the drive on Twitter, which called into question whether or not Reed identified the proper ball. If he wasn’t able to identify his ball in the tree and prove it was stuck, Reed would have been forced to walk back and play his third shot form the tee after taking a stroke-and-distance penalty.

“I would have gone back to the tee if I wasn’t 100%. … I got lucky that we were able to look through the binoculars and you have to make sure it’s your ball 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,” Reed explained to Telegraph Sport. “And you could definitely see and identify the line with the arrow on the end, and the rules official, luckily, was there to reconfirm and check it to make sure it was mine as well.”

“During round three of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, two on-course referees and several marshals identified that Patrick Reed’s ball had become lodged in a specific tree following his tee shot on 17,” said the DP World Tour via a statement. “The player subsequently took an unplayable penalty drop (Rule 19.2c) at the point directly below the ball on the ground. To clarify, the player was not asked to specify the tree but to identify his distinctive ball markings to confirm it was his ball.”