Aside from the war of words between Rory McIlroy (34, Northern Ireland) and Patrick Reed (33, USA), Reed said about the ‘Tree Gate’, which recently caused controversy over cheating, “There is a problem with Reed’s behavior. There was no,” he defended.
McIlroy won the DP World Tour Hero Dubai Desert Classic (total prize money of 9 million dollars) held at the Emirates Golf Club (par 72) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 30th (Korean time) with a final total of 19 under par and 269 strokes.
After beating Reed by one stroke, McIlroy, who dramatically rose to the top, participated in an official interview and was asked questions about Reed’s controversy. McIlroy had earlier received a summons from LIV Golf to appear in court while spending time with his family, and had a verbal argument over ignoring Reed’s greetings.
McIlroy said Reed’s pursuit of him was another motivator for winning, and he said, “I really wanted to win.” 스포츠토토
But McIlroy and Reed weren’t always enemies. In the 2019 Hero World Challenge, when Reed was in trouble with the bunker lie improvement controversy, McIlroy said, “If it weren’t for Reed, it wouldn’t have been a big problem.” It is argued that the various rule controversies related to lead are somewhat exaggerated.
Reid was also accused of cheating at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic. In the 17th hole of the 3rd round, the tee shot was caught in a palm tree outside the fairway, and after confirming that it was his ball through binoculars, Reed dropped it on the spot without returning to the teeing area to continue the game. DP World Tour rules officials also reaffirmed that it was Reed’s ball, but golf fans, including experts, raised questions about whether the ball was Reed’s. Some have called this a ‘Tree Gate’.
However, McIlroy defended that Reed’s behavior did not matter in this situation. “If the player on the field had been any other player than Reed, it wouldn’t have been a problem,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy said, “I have defended Patrick on several occasions. I don’t think he did it to gain any advantage.”
The DP World Tour side also confirmed through a statement that it was Reed’s responsibility and stated that Reed handled the situation correctly.