Rory McIlroy may have been in the midst of winning his first PGA Tour contest since 2016 on Sunday, but that doesn’t mean he missed Patrick Reed’s controversial run-in with a rules official during the Arnold Palmer Invitational finale in which the frustrated “Captain America” took Jordan Spieth’s name in vain.
Rory McIlroy tells Jordan Spieth ‘Don’t ask for any drops’ in match with Patrick Reed
McIlroy needles Reed over his Spieth-drop remark at Bay Hill.
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As Brendan Porath described it, Reed complained to a rules official that, after his approach to the par-4 11th hole went horribly awry and landed under some TV cables, he should receive relief from the potential obstruction. It would have avoided the penalty for taking an unplayable lie drop. When the official disagreed, Reed suggested that if his name were Jordan Spieth the ruling might have gone in his favor.
Reed, no doubt, referred to the time-consuming drop procedure that worked in Spieth’s favor during the 2017 British Open.
In any case, Reed will have a chance to make amends — or not — when the two, thanks to a bit of hanky-panky from the golf gods, meet in match play Friday.
Which brings us back to McIlroy. When a reporter asked him on Tuesday if he had any advice for Spieth in facing Reed in the round-robin format, last week’s API winner humorously jabbed at his once-and-future Ryder Cup rival.
“Don’t ask for any drops,” McIlroy, with a laugh, said to chuckles from media members gathered for this week’s WGC-Match Play tournament.
On a slightly more serious note, the four-time majors champion noted that both were good at match play and team events.
“Who knows?” McIlroy concluded with a shrug. “Just go out and play better than he does.”
Yeah, that’ll work.
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