Patrick Reed's antics tarnish Ryder Cup
I’ve got just one nit to pick regarding Dan O’Neill’s story on Patrick Reed (“Reed, not Chamblee, needs to ‘cease and desist’,” Jan. 12).
Reed’s “shushing" the crowd at the Ryder Cup wasn’t aberrant behavior for the Ryder Cup, as it has been played in recent years. It is just one more example of how these kinds of actions by players and, especially, fans have made the Ryder Cup unwatchable and uninteresting for me.
To paraphrase the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, I went to a golf match and a WWE event broke out.
Kevin Scannell
St. Louis
Video evidence shows Reed’s intent
Great story by Dan O’Neill (“Reed, not Chamblee, needs to ‘cease and desist’,” Jan. 12).
What’s amazing is the complete video, which shows three mini swings of Patrick Reed taking the club back very upright and not raking a grain of sand, then moving a lot of sand, which is evidence damning him.
The motivation to cheat was clear, having rehearsed the non-cheat pre-shot stuff prior.
Richard D Lacy
Noblesville, Ind.
You can’t spell ‘O’Neill’ without an ‘L’ or 2
Give a reporter a byline and it won’t take long to see his or her true self.Dan O’Neill’s B.S. about Patrick Reed, like Brandel Chamblee’s, shows why O’Neill is nobody now, and probably nobody forever (“Reed, not Chamblee, needs to ‘cease and desist’,” Jan. 12).
O’Neill’s call sign: L
Jim Evans
Arlington, Texas
O’Neill’s ‘spectacular writing’ keeps reader laughing
Spectacular writing from Dan O’Neill, and so perfectly right on (“Reed, not Chamblee, needs to ‘cease and desist’,” Jan. 12).
O’Neill had me laughing and saying, Yes, yes, as I read.
Keep up the great work.
Craig Melville
Maple Glen, Pa.
Tiger Woods can change, but what about Patrick Reed?
We have seen Tiger Woods change his stripes, but it may be harder for Patrick Reed to change his attitude in general toward the game and possibly to his life overall (“Reed, not Chamblee, needs to ‘cease and desist’,” Jan. 12).
David A. Foster
Woodstock, Ontario
Reed will continue to ‘sink’ without fessing up
Great job by Dan O’Neill on his article concerning Patrick Reed’s history and “cheating event” (“Reed, not Chamblee, needs to ‘cease and desist’,” Jan. 12).
Until Reed steps forward and admits to gross misjudgment, he will continue to “sink.” Even if someone threw him the rope that O’Neill suggests, Reed wouldn’t grab it for fear that it would be an acknowledgment of a mistake.
Kevin Odell
Greensboro, Ga.
A tuna on wheat with a side of commentary, please
Dan O'Neill seems to want to flog a dead horse here (“Reed, not Chamblee, needs to ‘cease and desist’,” Jan. 12). Sure, everyone knows about the restraining order, the brushing of the sand, the two-shot penalty, the caddie being tossed at the Presidents Cup.
There is also nothing new here.
On a weekend when Cameron Smith scores his first individual win on the PGA Tour, why are we reading old news about a player who otherwise made no news, missed the cut, and probably won't be seen again for a few weeks? Smith's opponent airmails the green from 90 yards in a playoff. Crickets.
It sounds like axes being ground, and it looks like columns being written Friday at lunchtime.
Dave Curley
Sacramento, Calif.
O’Neill does the right thing with Reed commentary
I am a huge fan of a few things in life. One of them is golf. Another is people doing the right thing.
Dan O’Neill, with his recent article about Patrick Reed and his lawyer, is my favorite writer on the planet (“Reed, not Chamblee, needs to ‘cease and desist’,” Jan. 12).
Thomas L. Benson
Elroy, Wis.
A different view of things
Rules are rules, but there is something grossly unfair when a player hits a shot over the gallery and tents as Brendan Steele did on the 18th hole Sunday at the Sony Open in Hawaii and ends up with an easy, clear shot into the green (“Keeping score,” Jan. 12).
The player should be required to play the ball as it lies. If he chooses a drop, a stroke penalty should be levied.
Bruce Allen
Forest Ranch, Calif.
Gambling will elevate boorishness to criminal conspiracy
An immutable rule of physics and life is that change is inevitable. Condoned and supported wagering on professional golf is equally inevitable. What undeniably comes with both will be the shift from occasional boorish behavior of some tournament spectators to consistent criminal co-conspirators (“New year touts golf gambling as almost a sure thing,” Jan. 2).
Unlike most any other professional sports, golf spectators enjoy exceptional proximity and mobility. The safest wager will predict that fans with bets on the outcome of various golf tournaments will resort to screaming in a player’s backswing at a critical moment in order to influence the results. Sure, tournament security will find them and throw them out, but eventually some of these bettors with serious ethical deficits will just hire multiple shills to do their dirty work.
It’s just a matter of time, and the PGA Tour won’t have a plausible excuse after the second or third time it happens. The major championships, outside of the Masters, with their loud and rambunctious crowds, will be very vulnerable. Maybe the broadcast partners will ignore it, but ultimately the Sunday afternoon results will be forcefully impacted by someone with an odds line to settle. Mark my words.
Steven Lapper
Far Hills, N.J.
(Lapper is a co-owner of Fox Hollow Golf Club in Branchburg, N.J.)
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