Patrick Reed at Kapalua

Patrick Reed is playing well this week at Kapalua. He is tied for the lead after two rounds and seems poised to be in contention for the Sentry Tournament of Champions title this weekend. His presence at the top of the leaderboard is somewhat disappointing. Not because of the fact that he is playing well, but rather what happened last month in the Bahamas.         

At the Hero World Challenge, Patrick Reed found himself in a waste area. His lie was poor and it appeared that he may have been in a footprint. Prior to addressing the golf ball, he took a couple of practice swings and moved a significant amount of sand behind his golf ball. Thanks to High Definition television, the Golf Channel was able to zoom in and show in great detail the infraction. After the round he was informed of the penalty by rules officials and accepted the two strokes assessed. In a bit of irony, he ended up finishing exactly two behind the eventual winner Henrik Stenson.

With the President’s Cup the following week, the reaction to this incident was been varied. Some (Cameron Smith) were vocal about the fact that he should have been penalized more, while others (PGA Tour Twitter)have seemed to let this pass with just the two strokes. Personally, I simply cannot believe the PGA Tour has not suspended Patrick Reed. Watching him play this well in Kapalua is disappointing because I do not think he should be playing at all.

First of all, his infraction was obvious. While we will never know his intent, he clearly improved his lie. That is not in doubt and that is what Slugger White addressed during his post round presser when he indicated Reed would be assessed two strokes. Unfortunately, that is all the PGA Tour decided to do. In fact, in that same media scrum, Slugger went out of his way to talk about what a “gentleman” Reed was when informed of the penalty. 

In what other sport do players who blatantly cheat get called gentlemen?

In my opinion, he broke the rule in such an egregious manner that the action deserved more than two strokes. The PGA Tour should have DQ’d him from the event and suspended him for a portion of this season. I do not understand why this incident just faded away.

As we watch Kapalua this weekend and see a lot of Patrick Reed, let’s remember that he broke the rules on purpose. The PGA Tour did not do anything about it, and we are all supposed to pretend that nothing happened. I really hope the coverage does not talk about what Patrick Reed has “been through,” or how “tough this has been.” Reed broke the rules, the Tour hid behind a two stroke penalty, and we are now asked to move on like nothing happened.

Patrick Reed is playing well this week at Kapalua. He is tied for the lead after two rounds and seems poised to be in contention for the Sentry Tournament of Champions title this weekend. His presence at the top of the leaderboard is somewhat disappointing. Not because of the fact that he is playing well, but rather what happened last month in the Bahamas.         

At the Hero World Challenge, Patrick Reed found himself in a waste area. His lie was poor and it appeared that he may have been in a footprint. Prior to addressing the golf ball, he took a couple of practice swings and moved a significant amount of sand behind his golf ball. Thanks to High Definition television, the Golf Channel was able to zoom in and show in great detail the infraction. After the round he was informed of the penalty by rules officials and accepted the two strokes assessed. In a bit of irony, he ended up finishing exactly two behind the eventual winner Henrik Stenson.

With the President’s Cup the following week, the reaction to this incident was been varied. Some (Cameron Smith) were vocal about the fact that he should have been penalized more, while others (PGA Tour Twitter)have seemed to let this pass with just the two strokes. Personally, I simply cannot believe the PGA Tour has not suspended Patrick Reed. Watching him play this well in Kapalua is disappointing because I do not think he should be playing at all.

First of all, his infraction was obvious. While we will never know his intent, he clearly improved his lie. That is not in doubt and that is what Slugger White addressed during his post round presser when he indicated Reed would be assessed two strokes. Unfortunately, that is all the PGA Tour decided to do. In fact, in that same media scrum, Slugger went out of his way to talk about what a “gentleman” Reed was when informed of the penalty. 

In what other sport do players who blatantly cheat get called gentlemen?

In my opinion, he broke the rule in such an egregious manner that the action deserved more than two strokes. The PGA Tour should have DQ’d him from the event and suspended him for a portion of this season. I do not understand why this incident just faded away.

As we watch Kapalua this weekend and see a lot of Patrick Reed, let’s remember that he broke the rules on purpose. The PGA Tour did not do anything about it, and we are all supposed to pretend that nothing happened. I really hope the coverage does not talk about what Patrick Reed has “been through,” or how “tough this has been.” Reed broke the rules, the Tour hid behind a two stroke penalty, and we are now asked to move on like nothing happened.

I will enjoy the views. I will enjoy the shots and watching good golf. However, I will not enjoy the fact that I will have to watch Patrick Reed this weekend. Safe to say, I will be pulling for anybody but Patrick.