Written By: Radha Seth

Patrick Reed stirred up chatter throughout the Golf world during the ‘Farmers Insurance Open 2021’, at the Green fairways of Torrey Pines. The whole event at the Torrey Pines boils down to the Embedded ball rule, which has made the spectators and the whole Golf world perplexed. His embedded ball on the 10th hole on Round 3 has become an overriding concern over his imperious 5 stroke win. Although it was clearly shown on the TV footage that the ball bounced off the ground, no one has actually seen the ball bounce. Even the lady volunteer at the Torrey Pines said 'I didn't see it bounce',

                          Patrick Reed at Torrey Greens

After lifting the title at the Torrey Pines by five strokes, Reed asserted that he was categorically told by the event officials that everything he did was fine. Although it is unlikely for a ball to become embedded in case it bounces off the ground. 

Reed Quoted “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 a relief.”

Since the day Patrick Reed has marked his victory at the Torrey Greens, Social media has been focusing on Patrick Reed’s embedded ball shot that clearly shows the ball bouncing back before settling into the rough. Later on, another rules official, John Mutch, showed the video to Reed and the fellow golfers in his group.

“He operated the way the rules permit him to operate,” Mutch said. “It's similar to a virtual certainty, under embedded ball it's called ‘reasonable to conclude,’ but if you hit the ball into a penalty area and you're playing with a couple of your buddies and you're virtually certain that's where the ball went and you operate under the penalty area rule and then later somebody in a group two groups behind you says, ‘Hey, I found your ball in the left rough,’ well, you're not under any penalty because you were virtually certain the ball's in the penalty area and you proceeded according to the rules.” (via Golf Channel)

Thus, Patrick Reed’s Controversial win at the Torrey Greens has sparked up the topic of an Embedded Ball Policy to the point it has become an overriding concern over his spectacular performance at the ‘Farmers Insurance Open 2021’.