News

Patrick Reed slapped with a 2-stroke penalty for moving sand in waste bunker

Published

6 years ago

Dec 6, 2019

Overnight leader Patrick Reed incurred a two-stroke penalty after twice moving sand from behind his ball on the 11th hole at the Hero Challenge during Friday’s round.

The contentious incident was caught on camera as Reed took practice swings before executing the shot on the par-5. You can make your mind up by watching the video below.

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Patrick Reed ???????????? . Via @ziregolf on twitter . #golfhound #usopen #pebblebeach #swag #golffunny #golflife #fail #golffail #funny #shank #golflife #fail #masters #golf #golfing #golfer #golffun #funny #meme #pga #pgatour #golfhound #masters #golfhound #usopen #pebblebeach #swag #golffunny #golflife #fail #patrickreed

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Reed incurred a general penalty (two strokes) under Rule 12-3 for improving his lie which was assessed following his round – changing his score of bogey six on the hole to a triple-bogey eight.

Following his round, Reed spoke to the media where he claimed that it was the camera angle which made it look as if he had improved his lie.

“It’s unfortunate because even though they weren’t, I wish they were actually directly on the side of me, because it was in a pretty good footprint but the footprint was a full footprint, and I felt like my club was that far behind the ball when I was actually taking the practice strokes which I felt like I was taking it up and it was obviously hitting a little sand.

I didn’t feel it drag, but then when they brought it up to me it definitely did drag some of the sand and because of that it’s considered a two-stroke penalty. I didn’t feel like it really would have affected my lie, I mean every time I get in the bunker I’m scared to even get my club close to it, it was that far away, but whenever you do that if it does hit the sand, just like if you’re in a hazard area and you take a practice swing and it brushes grass and the grass breaks, it’s a penalty.

So because of that and after seeing the video, I accept that, and it wasn’t because of any intent, I thought I was far enough away. I think with a different camera angle they would have realized that if it was from the side you would have seen that with the backswing it was not improving the lie because it was far enough away from the golf ball. But after seeing that camera angle, because it brushed the sand it was a penalty.”

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Gianni Magliocco

Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at gianni@golfwrx.com

20 Comments

Rich Douglas

Dec 9, 2019 at 6:59 pm

It was a waste bunker, not a penalty area. So one question wasn’t whether he touched the sand, but whether or not he improved his lie.

He did. That means the penalty.

The bigger question is whether or not he knew it at the time. The answer to this gets at his integrity. Breaking a rule isn’t unethical, but knowing you did and not reporting it is.

I’ll answer the second question with my own question: How could he NOT know after doing it TWICE?

Reply Report comment
DB

Dec 9, 2019 at 8:31 am

LOL I don’t buy his story at all. His club was nestled right up against the ball. He’s not even good at lying.

Reply Report comment
Ardbegger

Dec 8, 2019 at 2:19 pm

That was Reed’s rep back in college. Old habits die hard.

Reply Report comment
FairwayFraud

Dec 7, 2019 at 11:30 am

This is unreal. Reminds me of when my bud Patrick used his dirty cords to clean his ball and then proceeded to put it back in a better lie.

Reply Report comment
V

Dec 7, 2019 at 1:44 am

Either way, the new rules never should have allowed any grounding of the club in a hazard. This rule should be overturned back to what it used to be, no grounding allowed whatsoever in any kind of hazard.

Reply Report comment
- Joey D
  
  Dec 7, 2019 at 11:35 am
  
  It wasn’t a hazard!
  
  Reply Report comment
  - R
    
    Dec 7, 2019 at 5:14 pm
    
    You don’t play golf obviously
    
    Reply Report comment
    - Joey D
      
      Dec 7, 2019 at 7:31 pm
      
      R – Apparently you are not capable of comprehending what ‘V’ said – calling it a hazard. It is not a hazard! That is a fact!!!
      
      Reply Report comment
  - DougE
    
    Dec 9, 2019 at 12:22 pm
    
    Waste bunkers are not hazards. Grounding club has always been legal in them. But you were never allowed to improve a lie anywhere on the course other than when a local rule permits it or it’s a lift/clean/place round by choice of the committee.
    
    Reply Report comment
HumanLabRat

Dec 7, 2019 at 12:01 am

I did this all day today.???? Kicked my ball, moved it, bumped it, played a second ball,etc. Hadn’t played in months because of an arm injury and trying to get my game back. Don’t worry it was only a practice round and no posting, tournament, match, or playing for money.????????

Reply Report comment
The Taint

Dec 6, 2019 at 10:40 pm

He learned this absurd behavior from his idol Eldrick.

Reply Report comment
Dan Carraher

Dec 6, 2019 at 9:20 pm

Patrick Reed should have done what fake nice guy cheater Matt Kuchar did and just use his fingers to pick as much sand away as he pleased. No penalty for cheater Kuchar…

Reply Report comment
- Russell
  
  Dec 7, 2019 at 11:39 am
  
  Dan: You are correct about Matt Kuchar – he is a fake nice guy and he is a known cheater. Pretty worthless guy for those that really (REALLY) know him…
  
  Reply Report comment
  - James
    
    Dec 7, 2019 at 12:10 pm
    
    Don’t forget cheater Rory McIlroy for standing on a cart path and pretending he was going to swing through a tree to try to get a drop at WGC Mexico.
    
    Reply Report comment
Poley

Dec 6, 2019 at 8:46 pm

He just got caught, does not surprise anyone. Accidental or intentional — Give me a break – he should get 2 years.

Reply Report comment
jay jones

Dec 6, 2019 at 6:09 pm

Twice, blatant. Unfair to the other players.

…and a Reed pattern.

Reply Report comment
- Ray Rones
  
  Dec 6, 2019 at 6:25 pm
  
  …and something jay jones does every week at the local pitch and putt, thus his vanity handicap.
  
  Reply Report comment
  - jay jones
    
    Dec 6, 2019 at 6:45 pm
    
    phhh…but I make sure I’m not on camera.
    
    Reply Report comment
Iain Gold

Dec 6, 2019 at 5:24 pm

Why would the camera angle change anything. He moved sand making a practice swing directly behind the ball and that was his intended swing direction, thus he improved his lie.

Reply Report comment
- T
  
  Dec 7, 2019 at 1:42 am
  
  Because he’s saying that the clubhead wasn’t directly behind the ball, that it was a good few inches away, as opposed to the camera angle that made it look closer.
  
  Reply Report comment

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