Patrick Reed Gets Heckled At Presidents Cup First Tee

When it comes to international events like the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup, there is always a lot of smack talk laid out by the home fans. And with the controversies of the last week, it should be no surprise that Patrick Reed has been bearing the brunt of the trash talk this week.

Everyone in the golf world knows by now that Patrick Reed was hit with a rules violation this past week for moving sand in a bunker with the goal of having a better lie. Reed then did a pretty poor job of explaining what had happened, leading many to believe that he had purposefully committed the infraction. While that can’t be proven, many fans aren’t giving him the benefit of the doubt, especially at Royal Melbourne.

It only took Reed stepping up to the first tee to get some Australian fans chirping. “Are you going to improve your lie on the tee, mate?” one fan said. “Patrick, you’re really going to make your caddie carry 14 clubs and a shovel?” said a second fan. Another screamed “get in the bunker” after Reed hit his drive, which is where the ball ended up landing.

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As for Reed’s reaction to the early heckling, he wasn’t really surprised, stating that it is exactly what he expected. Reed had nothing more to say about that, hoping that his game would do the talking. Reed and Webb Simpson played a tough round with Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan that they eventually ended up losing.

As for the rest of the United States team, it wasn’t a great day for anyone. After the first leg of the Presidents Cup, the U.S. is down 4-1, which is not what many would have expected coming into the day. The only pair to notch a win for the United States team was the group of Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas.

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A slow start for the United States down under probably wasn’t affected by the fans’ heckling of Patrick Reed but it certainly could get into Reed’s head at the very least. It will be interesting to see if Tiger makes any changes heading into Friday or if he continues playing the same hand into the weekend.

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