The fallout from Patrick Reed’s cheating during the Hero World Challenge is still rolling in.
Reed was caught on camera improving his lie in a waste bunker last week and afterwards said he felt like he is getting a raw deal because fans have now labeled him as a cheater.
“Of course I do. But at the end of the day you can only control what you do. You can’t control everyone else. As long as I go out there and…live life the way I feel like I’m supposed to, that’s all I can do.”
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“I think with a different camera angle they would have realized that. If it was from the side you would have seen that with the backswing it was not improving the lie because it was far enough away from the golf ball,” Reed said.
Reed even went as far as to claim that it wasn’t an “intentional” act when everyone watching could clearly see that it was.
Presidents Cup Presser
Patrick Reed said incident at the Hero was not intentional, and was not cheating. "It's not the right word to use."
— Ron Mintz (@MintzGolf) December 10, 2019
Of course, there is more to Reed’s cheating than just this one incident. It is well reported that Reed had plenty of issues while he was in college at Augusta State University and he was also caught on camera improving his lie in 2015.
Now Reed is paying the price. The public, who already doesn’t like Reed for many reasons, as well as his peers have made him a punching bag.
After his finish in the Australian Open, Aussie Cameron Smith straight up labeled Reed as a cheat.
“If you make a mistake maybe once, you could maybe understand but to give a bit of a bullshit response like the camera angle … that’s pretty up there,” Smith said after finishing his Australian Open campaign.
“I hope so,” Smith said. “I don’t have any sympathy for anyone that cheats.
“I know Pat pretty good [sic] and he’s always been nice to me, so I don’t want to say anything bad about him but anyone cheating the rules, I’m not up for that,” Smith said.
If Reed attempted to be just a tiny bit more likable, the responses wouldn’t be so harsh, but the man who labeled himself as Captain America after his 2016 Ryder Cup performance has pissed off too many. His 2018 RC appearance turned into a disaster when his usual playing partner, Jordan Spieth, chose to play alongside Justin Thomas.
Tiger Woods could have chosen to remove Reed from the Presidents Cup team and replace him with someone fans actually like – Kevin Kisner, but instead left him on it. This is what we get, a guy with a big head who thinks that he is above the game and the rules because he won a Masters and performed well in one Ryder Cup.
No guesses needed to figure out who has this putter headcover in the bag. #presidentscup pic.twitter.com/FdCHQKhBax
— Steve DiMeglio (@Steve_DiMeglio) December 10, 2019
Not only that, but Justin Thomas joked with Reed on if he was improving his lie correctly while in a bunker.
“P. Reed, is this right?”
There doesn’t seem to be a response from the 2018 Masters champ.
Justin Thomas, dragging his club in the bunker: “P Reed, is this right?” pic.twitter.com/utHP3AL8TU
— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) December 10, 2019
SAVAGE!
However you feel about Reed, it’s safe to say you aren’t alone if you don’t care for him. Many don’t. His loner mentality has made him an outcast. His unwillingness to forgive his family who he hasn’t spoken to since 2012 and has had removed from several tournaments and has not introduced his own kids too makes him even easier to hate.
