Patrick Reed is one of the most controversial figures in golf, and Greg Norman has never been shy to voice his opinion,
It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the pair have clashed over the years. The Australian has beefed with a number of his competitors over the years, most notably Tiger Woods, who Norman says doesn’t like him.
Reed has developed a reputation as golf’s ultimate villain. Reed and Rory McIlroy have clashed after the American’s move to LIV Golf, and he has been embroiled in a number of controversies over the course of his career.
The 2018 Masters winner did something in 2019 that “repulsed” Norman, and he felt like he needed to protect the integrity of the sport and speak out about it.
What Patrick Reed did in 2019 that ‘repulsed’ Greg Norman
At the 2019 Hero World Challenge, Reed was given a two-stroke penalty after twice moving sand while taking practice swings in a sandy waste area on the 11th hole. Reed removed sand behind the ball during two of his practice swings, which was a violation of the rules.
He denied that this was his intention, but rules official Slugger White said that intent was irrelevant to the ruling. Still, Reed was widely criticized, and Norman came down hard on the American.
Speaking on his radio show, Attack Life, he said, “From my personal perspective, you know, I get really repulsed with that because, to me, you’ve got to protect the integrity of the game, not protect the player.
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“Over the years that I’ve been involved with the sport, for 40-plus years, I’ve seen a lot of things happen and, to me, I’ve always been at the forefront of protecting the game before anybody else.
“I don’t care what it is, whether it is an infraction of the rules, or signing a scorecard incorrectly, or taking an illegal drop, or whatever it is that I see, I will always, always stand on the forefront of protecting the game first.”
Unfortunately for Reed, it wasn’t the first or last time that his integrity was called into question.
All of Patrick Reed’s cheating controversies
Allegations of Reed’s cheating began during his time at the University of Georgia, where he quickly became unpopular. Teammates accused Reed of falsifying scorecards in qualifying rounds. He was also accused of stealing a teammate’s watch and $400 in cash from the locker room and was eventually dismissed from the team. Reed claims this was solely for underage drinking.
He transferred to Augusta State and was reportedly suspended for two tournaments for a cheating episode during a qualifying round. His teammates reportedly disliked him so much that they rooted for his opponents during the NCAA Championships.
After his Hero World Challenge incident in 2019, Reed found himself embroiled in another rules controversy. First at Torrey Pines in 2021, where he claimed his ball was embedded, and picked it up before a rules official arrived.
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Video footage later showed that the ball had bounced once before settling, making it unlikely that it was embedded.
Then came “Tree-Gate” at the 2023 Dubai Desert Classic, one of Reed’s first major controversies after joining LIV Golf.
His ball got stuck in a palm tree, which he used binoculars to identify. That allowed him to take a penalty drop instead of returning to the tee box. However, video evidence and course marshals suggested the ball had actually flown into a different tree.
Reed said that he could identify his ball markings, an arrow on the ball, through his binoculars, and the DP World Tour cleared him of wrongdoing, but this is yet another example of Reed’s integrity being called into question.
No golfer wants to be associated with cheating allegations, but rightly or wrongly, that’s the position Reed has repeatedly found himself in.
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