SAN DIEGO (AP) – Patrick Reed was involved in yet another rules controversy at the Farmers Insurance Open in Torrey Pines on Saturday. He also had a stake in the lead with Carlos Ortiz.
On the par 4 10 course, Reed hit a 190 yard shot from a bunker with a TV replay in which the ball ricocheted off once before entering the rough. Believing the ball wouldn’t ricochet, Reed picked it up to see if it was embedded before a rules officer arrived. Reed told the officer that no one in his group, as well as a nearby volunteer, saw it ricochet.
Reed got a free drop and saved par. He turned four of the next holes before screwing # 18 for a 2-under-70 and part of the lead with Ortiz at 10-under-70. Ortiz had a 66 on the south course.
In December 2019, Reed was punished with two punches at the Hero World Challenge by Tiger Woods in the Bahamas for deliberately correcting his lie in a bunker.
“It’s obviously an unfortunate situation, but at the end of the day when you finish a round and the main rules officer comes to you, he has the video and shows everything that happened to the whole group and says you do Perfect, you did just right, the protocols you made were just right. At this point, you know, I feel great about it, ”Reed said.
“The ball just disappeared. Neither of us saw it ricochet, ”said Reed, who added that a nearby volunteer told him it didn’t ricochet. “I looked at my group and said, ‘Guys, they didn’t see it ricochet either, so I’m going to mark this ball and see if it’s embedded.’
“The first thing I wanted to do after marking it was to 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 still embedded. If I put my finger there and feel like it broke the floor, call the rules as official first. … The rules officer said, ‘Yes, that ball broke the plane.’ “
The ground was soft from the rain overnight on Thursday and during the second round on Friday when the game was suspended for almost an hour due to a storm.
“At this point we go with what the rules officer said and what the volunteers and what we see too,” Reed said. “When we’re out there we can’t see everything and when that happens you have to stick to what the volunteers say and what the rulers say and when it all comes and shoves we feel like we are doing the right thing did and the officer said we did it absolutely perfectly. “
Ken Tackett, official PGA Tour representative, said Reed has “done everything we ask of a player. It’s obviously difficult and you can look it up when you see a video. There are many variables in soft conditions. “
The incident on 10 overshadowed Reed’s eagle on par-5 sixth as he hit in two and made a 40-foot putt to get under 12. He reached 13 under with a birdie to # 9.
Reed shared the lead with Alex Noren after the first lap and was one shot off the lead after 36 holes.
Sam Burns (70), Lanto Griffin (72), Viktor Hovland (73), Jon Rahm (72) and Adam Scott (72) were two shots back at 8 under. Rory McIlroy, 70, was 7 under in a group of four.
Scott’s round included an eagle, a double bogey, five birdies, and five bogeys.
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