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Greg Norman is willing to speak on behalf on all Australians when he says that Down Under, the general public does not look particularly kindly on people who “step across the line and take advantage of anything in sport.” The comment was made in reference to a rules infraction Patrick Reed committed in a waste area at last week’s Hero World Challenge.
Reed was ultimately handed a two-shot penalty for two practice strokes he made in the waste area that were deemed to have improved his line of play. A camera stationed directly behind him captured quite clearly the piles of sand that Reed removed with those strokes. When Norman saw that footage on the Hero telecast, alarm bells went off.
On a Wednesday episode of his SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show, “Attack Life Radio,” Norman revealed that he was so taken aback by Reed’s actions in the waste area that upon seeing it that he immediately texted a rules official he knew was on site and told him to review the tape. Norman said on the show that the official told him he was the first person to notify Tour officials of the infraction.
“He said I was the first person to reach out to anybody about seeing what had happened,” Norman said. “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.”
The penalty Reed received as a result inflated his third-round 72 to a 74. He ended the tournament two shots behind winner Henrik Stenson despite closing with 66.
Norman noted that he wasn’t sure how Reed would be received by Australian crowds in the wake of that action. International team member Cameron Smith, one of three Australians on that team, said earlier in the week that though he’s always gotten along with Reed, he doesn’t “have any sympathy for anyone that cheats.” Norman called Smith’s comments “very forthright,” and perhaps a preview of what’s to come.
Preed has hit into a bunker on all 3 holes. Fans are loving it — and cheering for it — except for one sympathetic lady standing by me who said, “Poor bugger.”
— Adam Schupak (@AdamSchupak) December 11, 2019
Norman made it clear he would always defend the integrity of the game, regardless of how he feels about Reed personally. He has been a voice of praise for Reed and his “moxie” in the past, as he pointed out on the show.
“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,” he said. “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.”
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