Xander Schauffele says Patrick Reed is "protected" by the PGA Tour
Schauffele: "Obviously the talk amongst the boys isn't great."
Xander Schauffele has reacted to the Patrick Reed incident that hit the headlines during the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open and revealed that the talk amongst the players on the PGA Tour "isn't great".
Reed went on to win his ninth PGA Tour title on Sunday and said he had to remain "resilient" after his name trended on Twitter on Saturday night, with multiple golf fans calling him a "cheater".
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PGA and USGA rules officials have cleared Reed of any wrongdoing, but his fellow professionals were left bewildered as to why he decided to pick his ball up without checking with an official beforehand.
Schauffele shot a 3-under par final round to finish in a tie for second, five shots behind Reed and speaking to the media following the tournament, the world No.4 revealed the incident had been discussed by the PGA Tour's players.
“I didn’t search for the videos, I just have heard talk amongst the boys out here,” said Schauffele.
“I would not put myself and create a situation like that. That’s kind of ... I wouldn’t. If my ball’s embedded, I usually will wait and call someone and kind of wait until everyone’s on the same page, wait to look at video. So I try to avoid situations like that just for that reason.
“I would wait for an official. You can put a tee in the ground and check your ball. I mean, he did everything by the book according to the official and everyone stood by there. Obviously the talk amongst the boys isn’t great, I guess, but he’s protected by the Tour and that’s all that matters, I guess.”
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Lanto Griffin, who took a share of seventh place alongside Will Zalatoris and Jon Rahm, said that Reed's action has left a sour taste in the mouth of his fellow professionals.
“I mean, it’s tough,” said Griffin. “Golf’s a game of sportsmanship and it’s tough to put us in the spot to call him out because we weren’t there. But at the end of the day I think 99% of the golfers out here, if it’s in question one way or the other, they’re going to go the other way, not taking a drop, it didn’t cross, that type of deal. So it’s tough to see, it’s sad, kind of pisses us off, but it’s the way it is.”
