Golf’s most hated man Patrick Reed who dropped anti-gay F-bomb missing from Ryder Cup – Daily Star
Controversial American golfer Patrick Reed is absent from this weekend’s Ryder Cup after missing out on selection for Steve Stricker’s Team USA.
The 2018 Masters champion is renowned for his on course antics, such as riling up and shushing the crowd, and is also reportedly embroiled in a feud with his family.
Despite appearing at the last three Ryder Cups, winning two, Reed is absent from this year’s tournament at Whistling Straights after being overlooked for a captain’s pick.
Having finished 11th in the points standings for Team USA selection, he was not chosen as one of six captain’s picks by Stricker.
Reed is a polarising figure in the world of golf, having been a patriotic member of three Ryder Cup campaigns but has also been accused of unsportsmanlike conduct in the past.
With his absence from this year’s edition of the biennial golf tournament, here are some of his most controversial moments.
Kicked out of university
Reed has been causing controversy as far back as his college days. According to reports, he was thrown out of the University of Georgia after he was arrested for underage drinking and found in possession of a fake ID.
He’s also been forced to deny claims that he cheated on the golf course by claiming another player’s ball as his own when it was in a better position.
Remarkably, the cheating allegations don’t end there.
Reed has twice been suspected of declaring lower scores than he’d actually shot, according to golf writer Stephanie Wei, and he also rejected claims that he stole $400 and a putter from his team-mates.
After he transferred to August State, he was suspended by his coach for unspecified “violations of team rules”, while he was so unpopular with his team-mates that they wanted him out – ouch.
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Reed hasn’t forgotten the way he was treated at Notre Dame either.
Last year, he attended a college football game between Notre Dame and UGA – wearing a full Notre Dame get-up.
Despite his links to UGA, Reed was openly cheering for the home team.
Homophobic slurs
In 2014, Reed was forced to apologise after using homophobic language while shouting at himself following a bogey.
Reed made the f-bomb filled rant at himself during day one of the WGC-HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, China.
TV microphones positioned around the green picked up Reed shouting “Nice f****** three-putt, you f****** f*****”.
Rowdy Ryder Cup antics
Reed has plenty of history at the Ryder cup too. During his first appearance in 2014, he shushed fans after sinking a putt on the seventh hole at Gleneagles, eliciting an angry reaction from those in attendance.
Reed’s pantomime behaviour riled the fans up so much that he reportedly required a police escort when he left the venue that day.
In 2018 he spoke about his relationship with the fans, saying: “Honestly I don’t really care what people say on Twitter or what they say if they are cheering for me or not cheering for me. I’m out here to do my job, and that’s to play golf.”
Not content with getting under the skin of Team Europe in 2014, he did it again two years later during a heated duel with Team Europe darling Rory McIlroy.
The pair produced a series of passionate celebrations and shushed each other as they completed their match, before fist-bumping afterwards to suggest it was all good natured.
Still, it did nothing to help Reed’s image as a confrontational character willing to take anyone on.