Patrick Reed tied for lead with Carlos Ortiz at Farmers Insurance Open

Patrick Reed moved into a share of the 54-hole lead at the Farmers Insurance Open, but all the talk on day three surrounds his controversial "embedded" ball ruling on the par-4 10th hole. 

Reed birdied the final hole to card a 2-under 70 and move to 10-under par alongside Carlos Ortiz, who posted a superb 66 earlier in the day. 

Patrick Reed with a VERY shady ruling here. Claims the ball is embedded in the rough after not bouncing beforehand (it did) and picking the ball up before talking to a rules official. Here’s the convo with the official pic.twitter.com/pJn4Kb7I3Y

— GolfMagic.com (@GolfMagic) January 30, 2021

But despite moving into contention for a ninth PGA Tour title, Reed has been left to answer a number of questions about his ruling on the 10th hole, where it was deemed his ball had "embedded" into the rough on the fly with his second shot. 

WATCH: PATRICK REED REVEALS PGA TOUR RULES OFFICIAL CLAIMED HE DID "EVERYTHING PERFECTLY"

Reed had already picked his golf ball up before a PGA Tour Rules Official came over to look at the incident, but it was quickly deemed by Brad Fabel that Reed was entitled to a free drop due to an embedded golf ball. 

However, upon watching a video replay of the shot, it was evident that Reed's ball had taken one bounce before then diving into the rough. 

That led a huge number of golf fans onto social media to question the incident and how a golf ball can possibly embed on a second bounce.

WATCH: REED ACCUSED OF "CHEATING" BY GOLF FANS ON SOCIAL MEDIA 

Reed raced to 13-under par by the 9th hole when going out in 31, but after saving par at the 10th hole, the American went on to bogey the 11th, 13th, 14th and 16th, before converting an eight-footer for birdie at the par-5 18th. 

Sam Burns, Lanto Griffin, Adam Scott, Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm find themselves two strokes back on 8-under par, with Rory McIlroy back on 7-under par with Sam Ryder, Will Zalatoris and Ryan Palmer. 

Xander Schauffele and Tony Finau are four strokes off the pace on 6-under par. 

NEXT PAGE: PATRICK REED REVEALS HIS SIDE OF THE STORY FOLLOWING CONTROVERSIAL RULING