Reed blames media for focus on rule violation

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, US: Patrick Reed blames the media for the ongoing attention to the rules violation that continues to follow him three months after the incident, but such deflection does not sit well with former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley. Reed is still being heckled by spectators, but the man dubbed by retired player turned commentator David Feherty as “Captain Oblivious” said on Wednesday that the players have “moved on”. This might be news to recent world number one Brooks Koepka, who in a recent interview severely criticised his 2018 American Ryder Cup team-mate for a rules breach at the World Challenge in the Bahamas in December. Reed was penalised two strokes after television footage revealed he had improved his lie in a sandy waste area, and while the American accepted the penalty without complaint, he said he had not deliberately improved his lie. This did not sit well with Koepka, who accused Reed of “building sand castles in the sand”. Reed was asked on Wednesday whether he had spoken to Koepka since. “Last week he played in the same event and I don’t think I saw him once,” Reed told reporters on the eve of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.— Reuters