You're Never Going To Believe This But Patrick Reed Is At The Center Of Another Rules Controversy

Well lookie here. Patrick Reed in another rules controversy. Color me shocked!

We're really getting the full Reed experience in Dubai this week. We've got the international atrocity that was #teegate, Justine (@useGolfFACTS) mmmmblocking out the haters on Twitter, and now this. Probably should have seen this coming.

By all means, logic would dictate that that ball should be in that first tree. Every video on the internet seems to back that up. Doesn't mean that it's an impossibility that it could have ricocheted elsewhere and ended up in tree #3, crazier things have happened.... but still a little difficult to wrap your head around. 

Either way, Reed apparently described the markings on his ball, and the DPWT Chief Referee spotted it with a pair of binos in that third tree.

The DPWT followed up with this statement:

“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. The DP World Tour Chief Referee joined the player in the area and asked him to identify his distinctive ball markings. Using binoculars, the chief referee was satisfied that a ball with those markings was lodged in the tree. 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.” 

Golf Channel later showed a close-up of that third tree in question, which shows the type of tree we're working with - one that gobbles up golf balls.

Of course, hardly anybody is talking about this if it doesn't center around Patrick Reed. His reputation precedes him. If the chain of events played out as the DPWT described them (and they would have every incentive to call him out on suspicious activity), then the case would be closed for anyone else and those watching live would have had a laugh and moved along. Not with Reed. The seeds of doubt have been planted over years of suspicious behavior - rumors of cheating regularly in college, the Hero World Challenge incident, the plugged lie at Torrey two years ago… all of it leads to thoughts that foul play may have been involved here. Did he hit a ball up there with his routine markings during a practice round? Did he see a ball that was marked similarly to his up there and then describe it to the official? Or even crazier, could team Reed be planting balls in odd places around the course in case these types of scenarios arise?

Your opinion on the matter is gonna be based on what you find more believable - that the camera angles of the shot are grainy and unclear enough to not show the ball find that 3rd tree… Or that Reed is devious enough to have pulled another one over officials' eyes. 

I personally find it harder to believe that he could have pulled off the ruse… but you can't deny that it makes you think. Which is kinda the point. Reed seems to be a magnet for these types of scenarios. They happen all too often to seem to be coincidental….