Patrick Reed Accused Of Cheating After Two-Stroke Penalty

The American was handed a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie in a waste area at the Hero World Challenge

Patrick Reed Accused Of Cheating After Two-Stroke Penalty

Patrick Reed was penalised two strokes after his third round at the Hero World Challenge for improving his lie in a waste area.

Reed was seen on TV sweeping sand away from his ball on two separate practice swings, with the video going viral on social media.

The 2018 Masters champion was leading by two at the time of the incident on the par-5 11th at Albany in the Bahamas.

The penalty ultimately cost him a chance at the tournament, as a day later he finished two behind winner Henrik Stenson.

Watch the incident below via the PGA Tour:

The 29-year-old broke Rule 8.1a4, which states that golfers cannot "Remove or press down sand or loose soil" to improve the conditions affecting the stroke.

Reed accepted his penalty and blamed it on the camera angle.

“It was in a full footprint and I felt my club was that far behind the ball when I was taking a practice swing,” Reed said after his round.

“It was obviously hitting a bit of sand, though I didn’t feel any drag.

“But, when they brought it up to me [on the TV], it definitely did drag some of the sand and, because of that, it’s considered a two-shot penalty. I didn’t feel like it would have affected my lie. I think with a different camera angle they would have saw it was not improving the lie as I was far enough away from the golf ball.

“I don’t ever put the club directly behind the ball in a situation like that as I am scared of it moving. Intent is a big part, but with only one camera angle it is a 50-50 battle when you are being assessed for anything like that.

“I told them there was no intent and it was far enough away from the ball, but they didn’t have another camera angle to show that and they felt it might have been improving the lie.”

PGA Tour rules official Slugger White confirmed Reed's penalty and said that 'intent' was not taken into account and also said that Reed "could not have been more of a gentleman."

“You could see the path of the sand come away on two different occasions,” White told reporters.

“He did it the first time, put the club down again and did it another time. Intent would not matter here."

Reed has been getting a hard time on social media from fans as well as his fellow pros.

"If you make a mistake maybe once, you could maybe understand but to give a bit of a bulls**t response like the camera angle ... that's pretty up there," Cameron Smith told the Australian Associated Press.

"I don't have any sympathy for anyone that cheats. I hope the crowd absolutely gives it to not only him, but everyone (on the American Presidents Cup team) next week."

Eddie Pepperell tweeted, "What the f--- were you thinking?!"

Solheim Cup star Anne van Dam wrote, "This is absolutely insane.. this does not belong on any professional tour.."

European StaySure Tour Pro Gary Evans was also unimpressed by Reed's actions...

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