Patrick Reed’s drop on 10 declared ‘textbook’ by rules official

Patrick Reed’s process for taking an embedded-ball drop on the 10th hole Saturday was declared “textbook” by PGA TOUR rules officials, Reed said in an interview after his third round at the Farmers Insurance Open.

Reed’s approach shot on the par-4 10th hole sailed well left into deep rough. As he approached the ball, he asked a volunteer if the shot bounced after striking the ground. The volunteer said no, leading Reed to believe his ball may have embedded in the ground. Under the Rules of Golf, players can check if their ball is embedded and receive free relief if it is. The first three rounds of the Farmers Insurance Open have been played under lift, clean and place because of wet conditions, including more than an inch of rain that fell Friday. Torrey Pines is so wet that the agronomy staff was unable to mow before the third round, Nick Faldo said on the CBS telecast.

Before checking his ball, Reed told his playing partners, “Hey guys, I’m going to check it. They said it didn’t bounce.” When rules official Brad Fabel arrived, Reed had already determined his ball was embedded and moved it. Reed then asked Fabel to check the ground for an indentation, saying, “Since I picked it up to check – it seems like it broke ground – but I want you to double check.” Fabel said he did feel an indentation in the ground and determined that Reed’s ball had been embedded. He then guided Reed through the drop for relief.

“When you have three players, three caddies and the volunteer (who’s) really close to the golf ball not seeing the ball bounce, then you have to go by what everyone sees and what everyone saw,” Reed said after the round. “When no one has seen that, then the rules official basically says whether it's free relief or not, and the rules official agreed that the ball had broken the plane and it was relief.”

Reed saved par on the hole en route to a 2-under 70 that has him tied for the 54-hole lead with Carlos Ortiz at 10 under par. Reed had to birdie 18 to salvage a back-nine 39 on Saturday after shooting 31 on his opening nine.

“We’re fine with the outcome of the situation (on No. 10),” PGA TOUR rules official Ken Tackett said in a post-round interview.

Video replay showed that Reed’s ball did bounce after hitting the ground. After the round, Reed said he would not have checked for an embedded ball if he was told the ball had bounced. However, he had to use his best judgement and consult with an official because no one saw it.

“When the ball bounces it's almost impossible for it to break the plane and so therefore, when that happens, anytime you see the ball bounce you just play it as it lies,” Reed said after the round. “If you had 100 people around there, bunch of fans out there and one fan said they saw it bounce, I never would have had to put a tee down and even check to see if it was embedded,” Reed said.

“That's why you always call a rules official, because at the end of the day they're going to have the best judgment over everybody. If they believe that it's embedded as well, that's then when you go by what they say.”