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Mel Reed started Saturday at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship with a shot from the lead, but after bogeying in the 1st and 4th, she needed to stop the bleeding in the fifth.
Then I made an unfortunate mistake.
Reed was hit with a one-shot penalty during the third round at Baltusrol Golf Course down for marking her ball while coming out of the fifth.
The PGA released a statement explaining Reid’s decision.
“While playing the 5th hole, Reed’s second putt came to rest near the left backside of the #5 green approximately four inches from the green, on the collar,” the statement said. “Reed did not realize the ball was not on the putting green and was tagged, lifted, cleaned and replaced with the ball. She then called for the referee who confirmed that the ball was not in the shooting area.”
under Rule 9-4bIf a player deliberately lifts or touches the ball while at rest or causes it to movesThe player gets one penalty kick.
The penalty resulted in a third bogey of the day for Reid and she continued to slide back nine after leading three more to fall back to six over with 14 holes and eight shots off the pace of Leona Maguire and Jenny Sheen.
The ruling has already proven somewhat controversial. Two-time major champion Brittany Linkekum, who missed the cut this week, tweeted that the line between the fringe and the green on the hole was a “joke” and she was “afraid” to mark her ball in that area during the first two rounds.