Patrick Reed will have a different caddie for the final session of the Presidents Cup on Sunday when he faces C.T. Pan in singles.
When asked who will serve in that role for Reed, United States captain Tiger Woods answered, “We’re still talking about that.”
Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis said Reed’s swing coach Kevin Kirk will step in for Kessler Karain, who acknowledged that he tangled with a fan during competition at Royal Melbourne Golf Club on Saturday (Australia time).
Karain, who is the brother of Reed’s wife, Justine, went into the crowd after Reed and partner Webb Simpson lost their four-ball match 5 and 3 to Hideki Matsuyama and Pan.
Karain said in a statement that he shoved a fan who yelled, “You (expletive) suck,” at Reed. The golfer has been a popular target for hecklers after his rules violation last week at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
The PGA Tour later announced that Karain would not return to the course on Sunday when the President Cup concludes with singles matches.
Reed said in a statement, “I respect the Tour’s decision. We are all focused on winning the Presidents Cup tomorrow.”
Karain gave his side of the incident in a statement: “As a caddie one of your jobs is to protect your player. And unlike several other sports, in golf fans can get pretty close to Athletes. We have been known for having fun with some good banter, but after hearing several fans in Australia for 3 days, some had taken it too far, I had enough. And this gentleman was one of them.
“I got off the cart and shoved him, said a couple things, probably a few expletives. Security came and I got back in (the) cart and left.”
Woods said prior to the week that he wasn’t worried about Reed being a distraction.
“Whatever Patrick has put out there, he’s focused like he is in every Cup, he just goes out and gets his point,” Woods said. “Next week will be no different.”
Reed lost a third consecutive match alongside Simpson to fall to 0-3 at Royal Melbourne.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
