As I have passively sat and watched the 2019 Hero World Challenge from the lovely Bahamas I have a couple of quick thoughts.

1. It’s an event that is hosted by Tiger Woods.
2. It’s played on a golf course (Albany Golf Club) that was designed by architect Ernie Els.
3. Both Woods and Els just happen to be Captains for the 2019 President’s Cup.
4. Because of points 1 and 3, this event feels more like a team scrimmage for the U.S. Team as they jet-set their way to Australia for the President’s Cup.

Look at who’s playing and who isn’t? Other than a smattering of U.S. players and a couple of Euro’s thrown in for good measure (Justin Rose, Jon Rahm, and Henrik Stenson) it’s hardly a “World Challenge”. To be fair, the guys from the International Team who may play in this event are playing in this week’s Australian Open. At the root of what I feel it truly is the Hero World Challenge is an exhibition event. Yet, here we are. Somehow, some way, a little bit of controversy seeps its way into the event. We know what I’m talking about.

Patrick Reed and the waste bunker incident. Or as I call it “TrapGate”. Just because Patrick Reed’s name is on this already makes golf fans (and observers) want to gather in an unholy mob and lynch the man. For the most part, the golf world “hates” Reed. Much can be said of the reason why this is the case. You could suggest that Reed, himself, has done it well… To himself. The brash claims of being a “Top-5 player in the world” early in his career (he wasn’t far off) and his past while attending university (accusations of stealing and cheating from his teammates) has never helped his cause.

So while in a waste bunker in his Friday round on the Par 5 11th hole he was observed ‘improving his lie”. “Fluffing” if you will. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll let the video evidence present itself. I know, many of us have already seen it. But even TMZ covered it. TMZ!!!

There’s no doubt in watching it, that the lie was improved. As the commentators said, twice in fact. I have a question out of this. Or maybe two, and a lot of you are going to be pissed-off at me about one of them. But before I continue, did he set a precedent? Same event back in 2015, no penalty. BTW, great sleuth work to DZ Golf. I thought I saw this before from him.

• How do we prove the intent? Do we assume that he was cheating because he’s done it before? If we were to dredge up his past? Would we hold his past against him because he’s simply Patrick Reed thus sentencing him as such?. Only one person knows if this was his intent and that’s Patrick himself. That said, I will say this. My father had a saying that I use as well.

“If it looks like a ducks, acts like a duck and swims like a duck. Chances are it’s a (insert expletive here) duck”

• What if it wasn’t Patrick Reed? What if it was Tiger Woods? Would we be willing to make the same accusations? He had clear intent and he was cheating. After all, and dare I say it his past isn’t exactly sterling. By the way, I’m not even talking about the off of the course stuff like “cheating” in a different way and DUI. Wasn’t it the same event that he got away with “the strike that wasn’t” in 2018? Had it been Reed in that place would he have gotten a penalty? I almost need to insert here that the answer is nearly an emphatic “YES!”. 

Golf fans, in the end, he accepted a two-stroke penalty as handed out by PGA TOUR rules official Slugger White. He admitted and accepted responsibility. Maybe the intent was truly there and deep down inside he knew it. Could it have been two two-stroke penalties? I think the possibility exists but it wasn’t what was doled out to him. He took his poison. Let it go and move on. If it were Tiger or some choice other players, you know you’d let it go. Many of you are calling for him to be replaced by Kisner or Brendon Todd. It’s not going to happen. Besides, what about Na?

Like it or not, golf and more notably the PGA TOUR has a double-standard. Now there’s a new slogan for the PGA TOUR. “The PGA TOUR. The double-standard in golf”. There’s some marketability.

Until The Next Tee!!

#fightandgrind #seeuonthenexttee

 

#patrickreed #ernieels #tigerwoods #sluggerwhite #albanygolfclub #heroworldchallenge #pgatour #untilthenexttee