Patrick Reed’s propensity to court controversy was evident again on Saturday at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, when the former Masters champion’s ball became lodged in a tree on the 17th hole.
The American, who began the week by flicking a tee towards Rory McIlroy on the range at Emirates Golf Club, said he was “100 per cent” certain he could identify his ball in one of the palm trees on the driveable par 4. He needed a pair of binoculars to locate his ball.
Reed, who now plays on LIV Golf, proceeded to take a drop under the tree, incurring a one-stroke penalty. He went on to make a bogey to then sign for a 3-under par 69 to end the third round fourth on the leaderboard. Reed sits four behind leader Rory McIlroy, with the final round of the rain-affected event concluding on Monday.
If Reed had been unable to identify his ball, he would have had to declare it unplayable and return to the tee and hit what would be his third shot.
Not long after the incident on Saturday, a video emerged on social media appearing to show Reed’s ball landing in a different tree to the one he took the drop beside – although the footage did not appear conclusive.
"I got lucky that we were able to look through the binoculars and you have to make sure it's your ball and how I mark my golf balls is I always put an arrow on the end of my line," Reed said.
"You could definitely see and identify the line with the arrow on the end, and the rules official was there to reconfirm and check it to make sure it was mine as well."
The DP World Tour released a statement on Saturday night to explain the ruling.
“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,” it said.
“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.”
Reed was set to begin his final round at 9:15am on Monday. He goes out in the penultimate group, alongside Shaun Norris and Victor Perez.
