‘Once a Cheat…’: Patrick Reed’s Statement Regarding the Infamous Rule Incident Mets With a Sharp Rebuff From Golf World

Patrick Reed finally spoke up. Following the controversial ruling incident during the third round of the Hero Dubai Desert Classic, he clarified the facts.

It all started when Reed’s third-round tee shot on the par-4 17th hole ended up in a palm tree at the Dubai Desert Classic. Interestingly, there were three palm trees where his ball landed and he, reportedly, identified one of them as the tree his ball landed. Notably, the Tournament officials released a ruling in favor of him. However, viewers found that the tree the golfer identified was wrong later, making the issue controversial.

The DP World Tour event held in Dubai has ended with the current world no. 1 Rory McIlroy winning the event after a nail-biting final round. Yet, golf fans are still calling Reed a ‘cheater’ for pointing out the wrong tree. This forced the LIV Golf defector to come out clean by releasing a statement.

“Some people love controversy. But what happened on the 17th hole at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic was a non-issue.” Reed posted a statement regarding the issue on Twitter after the event. “As the DP World Tour confirmed, I was not asked to identify the tree my ball struck (that was done by the ShotLink volunteers and several marshals),” his statement further read. “I was asked to describe the distinctive markings on the ball I was playing. 

Notably, he also added the next event he would soon tee up with his statement. He wrote, “I am looking forward to this week’s Asian Tour Flagship event at Royal Greens.” 

Fans are not on the same page with Patrick Reed

It is not the first time a professional golfer or a tournament official has made a mistake on the course. However, since Reed has a history of being involved in other cheating incidents, golf fans didn’t find him true to his words this time.

Read More: Rory McIlroy Makes a Bold Statement About Patrick Reed Amidst Ongoing Controversy

The Twitter handle of Golf Magic also shared Reed’s statement, and golf fans bombarded the comment section. Did anyone else support Reed as McIlroy did? Notably, Reed’s Twitter post doesn’t allow fans to comment on it. However, fans showed their disagreement with the 1-time major champion after others started re-posting it. 

What are your thoughts? Do you think Reed was guilty?

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