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19th Hole

Greg Norman reveals that he contacted an on-site official immediately after watching Patrick Reed bunker incident at Hero

Published

4 years ago

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This week, Greg Norman took to his Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio Show “Attack Life Radio,” and the Australian didn’t mince his words concerning Patrick Reed’s conduct at last week’s Hero World Challenge—claiming he was “repulsed” by what he saw.

On the show, the Australian discussed how he feels his native country will treat Reed at this week’s Presidents Cup, and also shared his thoughts on Cameron Smith’s public spat with the Texan. 

Norman also revealed that while watching the Hero on TV, he immediately texted a Tour official at the event after seeing Reed twice brush sand out of the way in a waste bunker. What’s more, the 64-year old claims that he “was the first person to reach out to anybody about seeing what had happened.”

*All quotes courtesy of SiriusXM PGA TOUR Radio

“So much so when I actually – I’ll tell you what happened – when I was watching the Hero Challenge – I don’t normally watch it but I came in and I was going into my gym that afternoon and I just happened to turn it on. And I was watching it and I’m looking and I actually immediately text a Tour official that I knew was there, immediately. ‘Hey, where are you?’ He said, ‘Well, I’m on the 11th green.’ [I said,] ‘Have you seen what’s going on?’ He said, ‘What are you talking about?’ I said, ‘Get yourself into the NBC trailer right now and rewind that tape and just watch what Patrick Reed did.’ I said, ‘He’s improving his lie. He’s cheating.’ 

That’s what I said. So he said, ‘Ok, let me regroup.’ And he went into the trailer and he goes, ‘Ok, yeah.’ He said I was the first person to reach out to anybody about seeing what had happened. Now, I can’t speak for the NBC commentators. I can’t speak for the production crew that’s in the van watching all these multiple screens and stuff like that. All I know was that I was told that I was the first one to notify the Tour officials of this infraction. And rightfully so. I feel for not just the pros. I feel for all the amateurs. Like today when I played in the pro-am, what was the first point of conversation? ‘Oh, well Patrick Reed did it. Can we do it?’ Well, you can’t do that.”

The veteran was even more blunt when discussing what he felt after seeing the Reed incident in The Bahamas, stating that he was “repulsed” and how he would always do whatever necessary to protect the integrity of the sport.

“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. 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.”

Concerning his countryman Cameron Smith’s forthright views on the incident where he accused Reed of cheating, Norman explained how that forthrightness is an Australian trait and a taste of what Reed will be dealing with at Royal Melbourne this week.

“Look, I think how he’s going to be received, the sampling’s been given by Cameron Smith. He was very articulate. He was very forthright. You’ll find that the Australians and the Australian media, and the general public, they’re very forthright in their comments and there’s not a whole lot of tolerance for people who step across the line and take advantage of anything in sport.”

Attack Life Radio with Greg Norman airs on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio.

 

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Gianni is the Managing Editor at GolfWRX. He can be contacted at [email protected].

19th Hole

Phil Mickelson reveals he won’t be pursuing broadcasting career when he retires from golf

Published

18 hours ago

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May 8, 2024

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On Tuesday, Chris McKee, a Toronto writer and radio host, wondered aloud on his X account if Phil Mickelson will be a commentator after his playing days are over.

“The second Phil Mickelson retires he’ll instantly become the most sought after TV analyst in golf. Would any PGA Tour broadcaster (CBS, ESPN, NBC or Sky) bring him in or would he have to stick to LIV broadcasts? #LIVGolf”

Mickelson saw the post and responded, saying he’s not interested in moving from the course to the broadcast booth.

“Thank you for the kind words. However, just cuz someone CAN do something doesn’t mean they SHOULD do it. Instead of commentating, I’m going to shoot some Pros vs Schmos 9 hole matches. I’ll share insights throughout as well as talk a little smack. It won’t be the highest quality video but it’ll be fun for me to do and fun to watch I think too.”

While I believe many fans would like to see Phil in the booth, his idea of “Pro’s vs Schmo’s” could certainly be intriguing.

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19th Hole

PGA Tour pro sounds off on ‘unfair’ PGA Championship invites

Published

18 hours ago

on

May 8, 2024

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This week, the PGA of America made some surprising announcements regarding the field of next week’s PGA Championship at Valhalla.

The event now will feature 16 LIV players with Talor Gooch, Dean Burmester, David Puig, Adrian Meronk and Patrick Reed receiving special exemptions.

PGA Tour player, Dylan Wu, took issue with how the exemptions were used and went to X to share his thoughts.

“Why is there never “real” qualifications for the PGA Championship? You have a points list and World ranking invite. Usually just outside top 100 in OWGR gets in. Chan Kim ranked 104th in OWGR doesn’t get in. SH Kim at 107th isn’t in.”

“Jesper Svennson ranked 108th gets in. Tim Widing 120th gets in. Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald gets a spot. A bunch of guys get leapfrogged even though they’re ranked higher than others. Seems like they just invite whoever they want. Unfair to the guys on the edge like Chan and SH”

“Just seems like the world of professional golf is in a weird spot and I love that the tournament invited a handful of great LIV players but figure out a correct system for a major championship where guys know they’ll be in or not. ????”

Fans who replied to Wu seemed to agree that a more definitive ranking system for the PGA Championship should be established.

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19th Hole

Report: LIV star turns down PGA Championship invite due to ‘personal commitments’

Published

2 days ago

on

May 7, 2024

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On Tuesday, the full field for the PGA Championship at Valhalla was released. In some surprising news, a handful of LIV players were granted exemptions including Dean Burmester, Patrick Reed, Lucas Herbert and Adrian Meronk.

The most surprising omission was Louis Oosthuizen. The South African has been one of the most consistent players on LIV this season, and also won two DP World Tour events in the fall.

According to the AP’s Doug Ferguson, Oosthuizen was actually given an invitation, but declined due to “personal commitments”.

In total, there will be 16 LIV golfers teeing it up next week at Valhalla.

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