Rory McIlroy Leads in Dubai While Patrick Reed Finds Another Rules Issue

Reed said he was "100 percent" certain he could identify his ball in a tree. He's in a group of LIV players four shots behind McIlroy going to the final round.

Rory McIlroy and Patrick Reed made news again in Dubai on Sunday, but this time for totally different reasons. McIlroy took the third-round lead at the Hero Dubai Desert Classic; Reed, again, found himself at the center of a rules issue.

McIlroy, who will remain ranked No. 1 in the world, shot 7-under-par 65 at Emirates Golf Club despite a bogey at the last hole to take a three-shot lead into the weather-delayed final round over Dan Bradbury and Callum Shinkwin.

Reed, meanwhile, had a rules incident at the par-4 17th hole, where his tee shot lodged in a palm tree. There was some debate over which tree the ball was in, and the issue was over whether or not he could identify the ball.

A lost ball would have required him to go back to the tee; an unplayable meant a drop, which is what he was granted when the DP World Tour rules staff determined it was Reed’s ball, with led to a one-stroke penalty and a drop.

Reed said he was "100 percent" certain it was his ball in the tree, although there was some confusion on the ground. "I would have gone back to the tee if I wasn't 100 percent," he told reporters in Dubai. "I got lucky that we were able to look through the binoculars and you have to make sure it’s your ball and how I mark my golf balls is I always put an arrow on the end of my line, because on the Pro V1 the arrow on the end stops before it so you can see the arrow.

"And then you could definitely see and identify the line with the arrow on the end, and the rules official, luckily, was there to reconfirm and check it to make sure it was mine as well."

The DP World Tour later issued a statement in which it said that two on-course referees and several marshals identified a specific tree in which Reed's ball had become lodged. “Using binoculars, the chief referee was satisfied that a ball with those markings was lodged in the tree. The player subsequently took an unplayable penalty (Rule 19-2c) at that point directly below the ball on the ground. To clarify, the player was not asked to specify the tree but to identify his distinctive ball markings to confirm it was his ball."

Reed went on to birdie the 18th hole to shoot 69 and is in a tie for fourth with fellow LIV Golf players Ian Poulter, Richard Bland and Shaun Norris, four shots back of McIlroy.

Rules issues have plagued Reed throughout his career, including one two years ago at the Farmers Insurance Open, when he found himself amid controversy after he picked up his ball to determine if it was embedded before consulting a rules official. He went on to win the tournament.