Patrick Reed was caught up in a controversy at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, Calif. over the weekend, and he dragged Rory McIlroy into it. But McIlroy’s situation is different.
Reed received scrutiny for improving his lie on the 10th hole instead of waiting for a tournament official to weigh in on his ball off to the left of the cart path. Reed believed his was embedded and removed it from the ground.
After his round, Reed’s Twitter account defended the golfer’s actions by saying McIlroy had done the same thing on the 18th hole. But there is actually a difference between the two situations.
McIlroy improved his lie on the 18th hole because he believed his ball had been embedded. Conversely, video showed that Reed’s ball bounced.
McIlroy shared on Wednesday from the Waste Management Phoenix Open that a PGA Tour volunteer disclosed that he stepped on McIlroy’s ball while trying to find it. That means McIlroy’s ball was legitimately embedded, unlike Reed’s.
“The TOUR got an email on Monday from a volunteer saying that he didn’t tell me at the time and he should have, but he stepped on the ball to find it,” McIlroy said. “… I guess at the end of the day I almost took the wrong relief because I should have taken relief for a stepped-on ball, which means you can place it instead of drop it. At the time I didn’t have that information.”
Though McIlroy feels guilty about taking the wrong relief, he feels vindicated knowing his ball did get embedded.
Don’t tell that to the Twitter account defending Reed, though.
