These days controversy and Patrick Reed seem to go hand-in-hand. It continued at the weekend.
Reed was penalized for identifying his ball in a tree during the third round of Dubai Desert Classic. The problem is that the ball can only be identified by an arrow marking on what appears to a palm of golf balls. In this instance, binoculars.
These are two very close views (per Getty’s wizards) of Patrick Reed’s markings that enabled him to identify the golf ball in the Dubai palm tree.
The red dot and the black “arrow” Reed mentioned in his post-round presser. Both images were taken today. pic.twitter.com/40UhXOq0rX
James Colgan (@jamescolgan26), January 29, 2023
Reed might not have been able to identify his ball and would have had to return to the 17th Tee to reload. This would have more likely caused him to score double-bogey rather than the one missed shot.
The ex-Masters champion was already embroiled in a controversy over his attire, which featured ‘LIV Golf’ and in a dispute with the Dubai number one.
Video footage taken pre-event showed McIlroy seemingly not greeting him when he was on the practice ground. then did a little bit of tee-throwing. This led to social media commenting that we had moved from ‘Tee Gate to ‘Tree Gate in the span of a few weeks.
Officials from the DP World Tour released a statement confirming that two on-course referees as well as several marshals had identified that Reed’s ball was caught in the tree.
This is the Golf Channel’s depiction of the alleged offending tree. It is shown with a pile of golf-balls that will never be seen again.
The complete statement is available here:
Despite the fact that Reed was cleared of any wrongdoings, DP World Tour pros were not pleased at the incident. Some footage appears to show Reed’s ball entering a different type of tree than where he found it.
Matthieu Pavon, French Tour pro Matthieu Pavon, responded to the incident by saying “Wow wrong tree!” Perhaps optical illusion, followed by a laughing emoticon. His compatriot Mike Lorenzo Vera went even further, stating “This man does not stop.”
Le mec ne s’arrete pas !?? ?
— Mike Lorenzo-Vera (@MikeLorenzoVer1) January 29, 2023
Reed said that he would have returned to the tee if he wasn’t 100 percent certain the ball was his.
Here Patrick reed comments on the ball on tree here @DubaiDCGolf https://t.co/JxDvKY0KQK pic.twitter.com/t2GPKtu68E
Golf & Science News (@TOURMISS January 29, 2023
Ironically, nearly a year after being involved at Torrey Pines in a rule dispute, Reed finds himself again the center of attention over a drop.
