Mel Reid Receives One-Stroke Penalty At KPMG Women's PGA Championship

The 35-year-old incurred the penalty after lifting the ball when not permitted on the fifth hole of her third round

Mel Reid at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Baltusrol
Mel Reid received a one-stroke penalty in the KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Baltusrol
(Image credit: Getty Images)

After an impressive second round of 67 in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Mel Reid had left herself in contention for her first Major win.

However, she found the going far more difficult on Moving Day, and it wasn’t helped by incurring a one-stroke penalty on the fifth hole at Baltusrol Golf Club

The 35-year-old lifted the ball when not permitted after her second shot landed near the back left of the green. Reid thought her ball was on the green and marked, lifted, cleaned and replaced it. Unfortunately, though, it had settled around four inches off the putting surface.

After suspecting her error, Reid called for a referee, who confirmed it had not been on the putting surface when she lifted it.

In doing so, Reid fell foul of rule 9.4b, which states “a player who lifts or deliberately touches their ball at rest or causes it to move, when not permitted to do so, gets one penalty stroke.”

That moment was one of a number of frustrations for Reid during a third round that will have fallen far short of her expectations after beginning the day one shot behind halfway leader Leona Maguire.

Reid’s round began poorly with a bogey on the first, and it didn’t improve from there. Further bogeys came on the fourth, fifth and seventh before she steadied herself with pars on eight through 12. However, she once again suffered frustration with two more bogeys on the 13th and 14th as she continued slipping down the leaderboard. Pars followed on the remaining holes as Reid’s round ended without a birdie.

Eventually, Reid finished with a six-over 77 to head back to the clubhouse tied for 35th, nine adrift of overnight leader Maguire, who shot another impressive round of 69 as she edges closer to her maiden Major victory.

Earlier in the week, Reid revealed she had “legit quit” the game in September following a wrist injury.

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Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.