MORNING REED: Rory McIlroy Weighs In On Patrick Reed

The Hero World Challenge brought a lot of headlines this weekend but none greater than the rules violation that Patrick Reed was hit with. And now some of the top pros are weighing in on the controversy.

For those that don’t know about the violation committed by Reed this past weekend, it was basically an incident that revolved around what a player can do in a bunker. According to the rules, you are not allowed to move sand from behind a ball when it is in the bunker. Reed ended up moving some of the sand when he grounded his club and took two practice swings, resulting in a two-stroke penalty.

Many pros believe that Reed knew exactly what he was doing and was actively trying to cheat in the bunker, especially after a video surfaced from an event years ago when Reed appears to do the same thing but is not penalized. Not all of Reed’s peers see it this way, however, most notably Rory McIlroy. McIlroy thinks this is such a big deal because the offender is Patrick Reed.

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“The live shot isn’t as incriminating as the slow-mo,” McIlroy said on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive. “You try to give the player the benefit of the doubt. He’s in there trying to figure out what way to play the shot. I don’t think it would be a big deal if it wasn’t Patrick Reed. A lot of people within the game, it’s almost a hobby to kick him while he’s down.”

McIlroy may have a point because Reed has been a part of a lot of controversy in his career but that could also be because it is deserved. That’s why Rory isn’t letting Reed off the hook either. He went on to say that the shot definitely looks “bad” on replay and that it would be hard for someone not to feel what was going on at the foot of the club.
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Whether or not Reed intentionally committed this penalty or not will remain unknown but the best course of action could be to just take the penalty and move on to the next event. If Reed can do that, he’s sure to be a contender in a lot of events in the new year.

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