PGA Tour Brunch - Farmers Insurance Open Finale

@PGATourBrunch Coverage Heading Into R-4 of Farmers Insurance Open

Jan 31, 2021

Farmers Insurance Open: Tournament Notes and Quotes

Farmers Insurance Open third-round co-leader Patrick Reed is dealing with another rules issue when he sought relief for an embedded ball -- which television third-round replays show had first bounced. Reed picked up the ball before a rules official could arrive to make a timely ruling.

Due to heavy rain at the tournament, the first three rounds were all being played with preferred lies, or "lift, clean and place.'' But that applies only to balls that are in the fairway. Reed’s shot was far off the fairway, near a cart path.

This is what Patrick Reed had to say to the media:

“First off, I get on 10 and the tee shot ends up just in that left bunker and didn't have the greatest of lies, so I tried to kind of get steep on a 6 -- steep on an 8-iron to try to get basically contact. Caught a hair heavy, ball launched vertical and left and it was going just left of the cart path. No one saw the ball bounce. The guys in my group didn't see the ball bounce and the volunteer who was almost on top of the golf ball when it landed literally went and marked it right then and there. When we got up there, first thing you do is you obviously ask, did you see the ball bounce, and if they say no, at that point I marked it to check to see if it was embedded. It definitely broke -- looked like it broke the plane.

“So from that point, called the rules official over and the rules official comes over and he checks to make sure it's broken the plane and he agreed. At that point we go and we take a, you know, embedded ball rule relief, which is one club length from the embedded ball and dropped the ball from there,” he said.

“At that point, when you have three players, three caddies and the volunteer's really close to the golf ball not seeing the ball bounce, then you have to go by what everyone sees and what everyone saw. When no one has seen that, then the rules official basically say whether it's free relief or not, and the rules official agreed that the ball has broken the plane and it was relief,” Reed added.

“It's an unfortunate situation obviously, but at the end of the day when you finish a round and the head rules official comes up to you and has the video and shows everything that went down to the whole group and says that you've done this perfectly, you did this the exact right way, the protocols you did were spot on, at that point, you know, I feel great about it.”

Despite Reed’s situation, Carlos Ortiz posted low round of the day, 6-under (66), and is today in a bid to become season’s first multiple tourney winner. After beginning the third round T-21, Ortiz offset a lone bogey with seven birdies, including four on his last six holes, to post the day’s low score.

Ortiz claimed his first career PGA Tour win earlier this season at the Vivint Houston Open.

Five players are T-3 heading into today’s final round.

Final round Tee times begin at 10:20am (local)/1:20pm (ET) when the leaders tee-off from No. 1 on the South Course at Torrey Pines..

Farmers Insurance Open Leaderboard

(After Third Round)

Carlos Ortiz 72-68-66 - 206 (-10) SC-NC

Patrick Reed 64-72-70 - 206 (-10) NC-SC

Sam Burns 66-72-70 - 208 (-8) NC-SC

Lanto Griffin 66-70-72 - 208 (-8) NC-SC

Viktor Hovland 70-65-73 - 208 (-8) NC-SC

Jon Rahm 69-67-72 - 208 (-8) SC-NC

Adam Scott 67-69-72 - 208 (-8) NC-SC

Full Leaderboard (link)

What They’re Saying:

Patrick Reed on the Controversy at Torrey Pines No. 10 - (USA Today/GolfWeek)

Co-Leader Patrick Reed Finds Himself in Rules Dispute - (ESPN)

Reed, Ortiz Share Lead at Farmers Insurance Open (CBS Sports)

Reed Drop Considered “Text Book” by PGA Tour Official (PGATourCom)

The Basics:

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedEXCup @FarmersInsOpen #SeeYouAtTorrey

TV COVERAGE: Sunday, January 31: 3:00pm to 6:30pm (ET) on CBS.

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: Sunday, January 31: 3:00pm to 6:30pm (ET) on Sirius XM Satellite Radio or online on PGATour.com

PGA TOUR TOURNAMENT SITE (link)

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On This Day in Golf History:

January 31, 1982 - Jack Nicklaus shot a (then) course record (64) in the final round at Torrey Pines (South Course) but fell one shot shy of Johnny Miller who won the Andy Williams San Diego Open. Nicklaus’ round included two eagles but Miller’s (70) was good enough to win. (Courtesy Randy Walker), Author of On This Day in Golf History, available via Amazon.com and by clicking HERE

Up Next:

The popular Waste Management Phoenix Open is up next on the PGA Tour calendar, scheduled for February 4-7th, 2021 at the TPC Scottsdale, (Arizona) as the tour continues its West Coast swing.

Tournament site: (link)