Patrick Reed

[tugglesf239]

He is bang to rights there.

 

[Jacko_G]

Ouch - that is incredibly stupid!

 

[williamalex1]

Ouch - that is incredibly stupid!

Or premeditated cheating

 

[Imurg]

Trying to work out why he didn't see it ( unless he did and ignored it)
The only thing I can come up with is that when taking the backswings he was checking his alignment or arm angles and not looking down. I've only seen clips of the club head so I can't tell.
The sand is pretty fine and he, possibly, didn't feel the club head move it if he was focussed on something else but it's a hell on a long shot......
It's hard to see how he didn't know he'd done it, there is a very slim chance he didn't know but an awful lot of planets have to align before anyone believes that.

 

[Bunkermagnet]

I had a lot of time for him before this, but now......I think he's gonna have to save a lot of puppies and kittens before he is considered anything more than just another spoilt cheat for me.
He knew what he was doing, and if he was taking practice swings why wouldnt you take them so your club is in no way close to or in line with the ball?

 

[Hobbit]

Surely after the first practice swing he realised the sand looked like it had been disturbed? And if not then, after he did it the second time?

Cheat.

 

[Wabinez]

not the first time he has done it either

https://twitter.com/x/status/1203042241897541632

 

[ger147]

He has already said he knew what he was doing but that he didn't believe it was a penalty as his club was far enough away from his ball, he did not improve his lie and the single camera angle shown is deceptive.

So it wasn't an accident and he wasn't unaware what he was doing.

For me, it's deliberate cheating...

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...nded-two-stroke-penalty-for-improving-his-lie

 

[Lump]

 

[Dan2501]

Trying to work out why he didn't see it ( unless he did and ignored it)
The only thing I can come up with is that when taking the backswings he was checking his alignment or arm angles and not looking down. I've only seen clips of the club head so I can't tell.
The sand is pretty fine and he, possibly, didn't feel the club head move it if he was focussed on something else but it's a hell on a long shot......
It's hard to see how he didn't know he'd done it, there is a very slim chance he didn't know but an awful lot of planets have to align before anyone believes that.

He was staring down at the ball the whole time, watching it intently. He knew what he was doing.

 

[pokerjoke]

After watching it several times there’s no doubt he knew what he was doing.

 

[harpo_72]

Bit silly, he should have gone to another area that was similar and had those little practice swings. Which he would be entitled to do in waste area.
But if he really wanted to improve his lie, legally, his back swing could have been deeper and then he would have to get on plane to go through the ball. But he is tour pro that lie is scary for an amateur but should be bread and butter to him.
I would have just walked up and topped it as hard as I could

 

[User20204]

It seems very fashionable to hate Patrick Reed but I'm not one of those however that is very hard to defend.

 

[Piece]

He absolutely knew what he was doing.

 

[hovis]

blimey, why? sergio dislodged a piece of pine straw and it caused bedlam. how did he think building a sand castle was going to go unnoticed?

 

[User20204]

Just seen it from another angle, the camera does make his scoop look closer than it is, still at it back it's not as close as it first seems.

 

[howbow88]

I'm always one for giving the benefit of the doubt, and I even quite like Reed's panto villain ways, but this was very naughty. I wonder how the other tour players will feel about all of this?

 

[harpo_72]

Just seen it from another angle, the camera does make his scoop look closer than it is, still at it back it's not as close as it first seems.

That does need to be shown .. as it gives it context.
But and I don’t have any opinions on Patrick Reed, he should have been a bit more shrewd and played within the opportunities of the rules

 

[User20204]

I'm going to put it out there that there isn't a single person who plays the game at some point hasn't improved their lie.

If you say you have never done so, ever, I'm calling you a lier.

 

[harpo_72]

I'm going to put it out there that there isn't a single person who plays the game at some point hasn't improved their lie.

If you say you have never done so, ever, I'm calling you a lier.

Anyone who addresses the ball and doesn’t do it lightly (god knows how you define that!) is probably guilty.