Patrick Reed secured a five-stroke victory at the Farmers Insurance Open in California after carding a final round 68 at Torrey Pines.
The former Masters champion started the final round in a share of the lead, and never relinquished it at any point to finish on 14 under, with Viktor Hovland, Jon Rahm and Tony Finau among those to slip out of contention over the closing holes.
Hovland briefly held a share of the lead until three bogeys over the final five holes dropped him back into tied-second with Finau, Ryan Palmer, Xander Schauffele and Henrik Norlander, with Rahm five strokes off the pace in tied-seventh after a 72.
The victory was not without controversy, however, as Reed was involved in a rules incident during the third round on Saturday after he hit his approach shot on the par-4 10th hole into some deep rough. Due to heavy rain, it was deemed that any ball that embedded itself the rough without bouncing could be lifted and placed. As Reed approached his ball, he asked a volunteer if the shot had bounced after hitting the ground. The volunteer said that she had not seen it bounce, leading Reed to believe his ball may have embedded. Under the Rules of Golf, players can check if their ball is embedded and receive free relief if it is. Before checking his ball, Reed told his playing partners, “Hey guys, I’m going to check it. They said it didn’t bounce.”
When a rules official arrived, Reed had already determined his ball was embedded and moved it. Reed then asked the rules official 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.” The official said he did feel an indentation in the ground and determined that Reed’s ball had been embedded. Reed took relief and went on to make a par. However, a subsequent review of the TV footage showed that Reed’s ball had in fact bounced, and that he should not have been entitled to relief, but by that time the decision was already made and Reed did not suffer any penalty.
Speaking after the third round, Reed said: “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. 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.”
After the win, Reed said: “You look at all the great players, all of them are really resilient. It doesn’t really matter what’s going on around them; whether they’re getting good breaks or bad breaks, they seem to figure out a way to get the job done. That’s golf, that’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s why I love the game. It throws punches at you; you throw punches at it. And at the end of the day hopefully you’re the one left standing.”
Patrick Reed’s winning gear
Driver: Titleist TSi3 (9°)
Fairway Wood: TaylorMade SIM (15°)
Hybrid: Callaway Apex Pro (20°)
Irons: Grindworks Patrick Reed Prototype (4-PW)
Wedges: Artisan Proto (51°), Vokey SM8 (56°), Vokey SM6 (60°)
Putter: Scotty Cameron Tour Rat
Ball: Titleist Pro V1