Smith ramps up pressure on Reed: "I don't have any sympathy for anyone that cheats"
Patrick Reed’s second practice swing brushed more sand away from the back of his ball
Patrick Reed insists he will not allow fierce criticism of his actions in the Hero World Challenge to "derail" him in this week's Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne.
But he is sure to face a difficult week Down Under after Australian Cameron Smith, a member of Ernie Els’ International team, brutally criticised the former Masters champion over the excuse he made for improving his lie in the Bahamas.
"If you make a mistake maybe once, you could maybe understand but to give a bit of a bulls--- response like the camera angle ... that's pretty up there (inexcusable)," Smith told the AAP at the Australian Open on Sunday.
"I don't have any sympathy for anyone that cheats. I hope the crowd absolutely gives it to not only him, but everyone (on the American team) next week. I know Pat pretty good and he's always been nice to me, so I don't want to say anything bad about him. But anyone's cheating the rules, I'm not up for that.”
Reed (29) was handed a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie and line of play in Friday's third round, ultimately finishing two shots behind winner Henrik Stenson in third.
But while he's been the subject of ridicule from his peers and could face even more flak when he tees it up as a captain's pick this week, he's adamant he will not let it affect him.
Saying this is a bad camera angle is a bit like getting caught with the next door neighbour and telling the missis “I fell” https://t.co/P2jm8Ye5u9
— Jamie Donaldson (@DonaldsonJamie) December 7, 2019
"There's not really anything that's going to be said or done that's going to really derail me at the end of the day," Reed said. "I'm playing with my team, and for the whole country and at the end of the day nothing's going to get in my way."
The controversy arose in the third round of Woods' 18-man charity event in the Bahamas when Reed tried to extricate his ball from a footprint in a sandy waste area on the par-five 11th hole.
The Texan placed his club behind his ball and made two practice swings, twice dragging a pathway of sand away from the back of the ball in the process.
He claimed it was not his "intent" to improve his lie, but in accepting the penalty, he argued that the lone camera angle gave him no option.
“Saying this is a bad camera angle is a bit like getting caught with the next-door neighbour and telling the missis ‘I fell’”
"I didn't feel like I was doing anything that was improving a lie, but then when you saw it on camera, because of that camera angle, they said that the sand was moving,” he said. “And when the sand moves like that, it's a penalty."
His explanation cut little ice with European Tour regulars Jamie Donaldson and Eddie Pepperell, who were merciless on Twitter.
"Saying this is a bad camera angle is a bit like getting caught with the next-door neighbour and telling the missis 'I fell'," Welshman Donaldson tweeted alongside a video of the infraction.
Pepperell posted a picture of himself squinting into the camera flash against a pitch-black night sky, tweeting: "Down the beach again with the dogs. Tried to get a nice selfie with the dogs and sea behind but shit man, bad camera angle."
Down the beach again with the dogs. Tried to get a nice selfie with the dogs and sea behind but shit man, bad camera angle. pic.twitter.com/GlZxnNErKF
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) December 7, 2019
Meanwhile, Danish teenager Rasmus Hojgaard (18) became the third-youngest winner in European Tour history with a dramatic play-off triumph at the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open.
He birdied the last to tie with Italian Renato Paratore and Frenchman Antoine Rozner on 19-under but after missing a 12-foot eagle putt for the title on the first trip back up the par-five 18th hole, he made an eagle three from similar range at the third time of asking to take the title.
"I'm lost for words," said Hjogaard, whose identical twin brother Nicolai finished second to Sergio Garcia at last season's KLM Open. "It's amazing and I'm over the moon.”
