Patrick Reed: Champion or Cheater?

Earlier this month, the WGC-Mexico Championship tournament was held in Naucalpan, Mexico. The tournament played host to 72 golfers over the four day tournament, but one stood out among the rest. That man is Patrick Reed, who ended the weekend by winning the tournament, picking up his 8th PGA Tour win in his career.

However, that win didn’t come without a little bit of controversy. Many have continued to accuse Reed of being a cheater on the course. In the Hero World Challenge in December 2019, Reed was penalized on the 11th hole. Reed had taken more than a handful of practice strokes, grounding the club and moving sand back every time from the waste area the ball was in.

Photo by: Golf Digest

According to the rules, unlike bunkers, golfers can ground the club in sand waste areas but still cannot move sand to improve the lie of the ball. He was assessed a two stroke penalty, which was the nail on the coffin on his chances of winning as he ended the tournament two strokes behind winner Henrik Stenson.

This isn’t the first time he got caught cheating. Former CBS golf commentator Peter Kostis appeared on the No Laying Up podcast and talked about times he saw Patrick Reed make some interesting decisions while playing. Kostis tells about how he’s seen Patrick Reed improve his lie, “up close and personal”, four times.

He goes on to specifically tell a story from 2016. While playing in The Barclays at Bethpage Black in New York, Reed looked to shoot out of the rough on the 13th hole in the final round of the tournament. Reed started asking for a variety of irons from his caddy, taking practice shots with each, before asking for a 3 wood and hitting out of the rough.

Video by: MIke B (Youtube)

On the broadcast, Kostis had said “I don’t know why he’s gonna try this… the lie I originally saw wouldn't have allowed for this”. This is because it originally wouldn’t have allowed it; Reed pushed the grass down behind his ball multiple times in order to be able to use a 3 wood to hit as far down the fairway. Reed went on to win The Barclays by 1 stroke.

With this recent storm of controversy surrounding him, Patrick Reed is trying to block it out by blocking hecklers on Twitter. He continues to adamantly deny these allegations by fellow PGA Tour players, commentators and fans. Only time will tell what is the truth as now more eyes will be on Patrick Reed’s each and every shot.