The PGA Tour is probably not happy, and even if they were, they would never admit it. But this is what we need more of in golf!
Patrick Reed’s early withdrawal at Farmers Insurance Open starts PGA Tour beef
One way to make the PGA Tour more entertaining is more beeffffs. Graham DeLaet did his part on Twitter after his playing partner, Patrick Reed, withdrew at Torrey Pines.
Harry How/Getty Images
Patrick Reed slogged his way to a third-round 81 on Saturday at the Farmers Insurance Open. Torrey Pines is already a tough course with thicker rough and unpredictable poa greens, but the wind made things much harder on Saturday. Those conditions, however, were nothing compared to what was coming on Sunday.
Reed probably was not happy with being unable to break 80 and was near the bottom of the leaderboard. He did not have a chance to win. He also may have been injured. Word came down Saturday night that he had withdrawn, citing an ankle injury.
Reed’s would-be playing partner on Sunday, Graham DeLaet, heard of the WD and did not hesitate to publicly announce his disapproval.
Does anyone have Pat Reed's #? I need to call him out for WD'ing and leaving us as a twosome in the final group off 10 in brutal weather.
— Graham DeLaet (@GrahamDeLaet) January 31, 2016
DeLaet knew Sunday was going to be brutal with forecasted gusts of 50 mph and sideways rain. He had no chance to win either and because the Tour decided to put the players in groups of three off split tees, he was going to be the last tee time of the day going off the back nine.
So DeLaet was already displeased with his play, his lot on the leaderboard and the extremely unenjoyable weather coming and now he had the added circumstance of having to play as a twosome and wait around in the nasty weather behind a bunch of threesomes. Sunday turned out to have historically awful conditions for this San Diego stop and with trees down all over the course, the players are still there trying to finish up Monday afternoon.
Let's make this day last forever. pic.twitter.com/vFCEOYhSlz
— Graham DeLaet (@GrahamDeLaet) January 31, 2016
When I first saw this Saturday night, I thought the tweet was a half-serious jab at a guy DeLaet may be buddies with out on Tour. But the Canadian made it clear in subsequent tweets that this is real, true beef.
@Bailey_Ryan6 wrong, you play because you're a pro.
— Graham DeLaet (@GrahamDeLaet) January 31, 2016
@GolfTruth Totally different now. Guys have a tournament to play next week. Gave it a go for 10 hours in bad weather today.
— Graham DeLaet (@GrahamDeLaet) February 1, 2016
Suspicious WDs are a pretty common occurrence on Tour. Rory McIlroy walking off the course after playing like trash at the Honda Classic, and then saying he withdrew with a wisdom tooth problem is one of the more recent and notorious examples.
Reed may have injured his ankle but that doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy DeLaet calling him out publicly. This almost never happens on Tour, certainly not enough. We need more beef.
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