Rory McIlroy carded a brilliant 65 to lead by three shots as he chases his third Hero Dubai Desert Classic win, but Patrick Reed still managed to overshadow the Hollywood star with another rules controversy.
he pair narrowly avoided being drawn together in yesterday’s third round in which McIlroy made eight birdies in 17 holes to go four clear before taking six at the par-five 18th after finding water with his approach.
Playing in the group ahead of McIlroy, Reed left the Ulsterman waiting on the 17th tee when his drive got stuck up a palm tree 50 yards short of the green.
Social media later suggested Reed was searching in the wrong tree for his ball and identified a ball that could not have been the one hit from the tee.
Had he failed to identify his ball, the 2018 Masters champion would have been forced to return to the tee.
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Patrick Reed of The United States reacts on the 1st hole during the third round of the Dubai Desert Classic, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
But he used binoculars to identify it as his, dropped under the tree after a one-shot penalty and made bogey before going on to birdie the 18th for a 69 that left him tied for fourth on 11-under.
He’s just four shots behind McIlroy, whose 65 gave him a three-shot lead over England’s Dan Bradbury and Callum Shinkwin on 15-under par.
Asked afterwards if he was “100 per cent” sure it was his ball, Reed said: “100 per cent. I would have gone back to the tee if I wasn’t 100 per cent… I got lucky that we were able to look through the binoculars and you have to make sure it’s your ball and how I mark my golf balls is I always put an arrow on the end of my line, because the Pro VI the arrow on the end stop before it so you can see the arrow .
“And you could definitely see and identify the line with the arrow on the end, and the rules official, luckily, was there to reconfirm and check it to make sure it was mine as well.”
Reed has been at the center of several rules controversies over the years and the DP World Tour felt obliged to issue a statement.
Interestingly, it mentions the ruling did not require him to identify which tree the ball had landed in.
“Two on-course referees and several marshals identified that Patrick Reed’s ball had become lodged in a specific tree following his tee shot on 17,” it said. “The DP World Tour chief referee joined the player in the area and asked him to identify his distinctive ball markings. Using binoculars, the chief referee was satisfied that a ball with those markings was lodged in the tree.
“The player subsequently took an unplayable penalty drop (Rule 19.2c) at the point directly below the ball on the ground. To clarify, the player was not asked to specify the tree but to identify his distinctive ball markings to confirm it was his ball .”
While Reed is in the clear, the noise will likely rumble on considering past rules controversies, such as the two-shot penalty he was handed for improving his lie in a waste bunker in the Bahamas in 2019.