Caddie Kessler Karain will sit out Presidents Cup singles following altercation with fan
By T.J. Auclair ยท December 14, 2019
Itโs been a rough Presidents Cup week at Royal Melbourne for 2018 Masters champion Patrick Reed.
Following a 5&3 loss in the morning fourball session with Webb Simpson on Saturday to drop to 0-3-0 for the week, Reedโs caddie โ brother-in-law Kessler Karain โ was involved in an altercation with a fan.
As a result of the altercation, the PGA Tour announced following Saturdayโs afternoon session, in which Reed did not play, that, โKarain will not return to caddie for Sundayโs final-round singles matches.โ
RELATED: Caddie Kessler Karain excited for Presidents Cup, says he and Patrick Reed expect to win every match
Reed issued this statement at the same time: โI respect the Tourโs decision. We are all focused on winning the Presidents Cup tomorrow.โ
The Americans rallied Saturday afternoon and will enter the singles session trailing by just two points at 10-8.
So what exactly happened?
Reed was a controversial captainโs pick by Woods to begin with, but given his past successes in team events, he was difficult for captain Tiger Woods to overlook.
And then the third round of the Hero World Challenge happened just over a week ago.
Thatโs where Reed was assessed a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie in a waste area by moving sand behind his golf ball with his club.
Reed insisted it wasnโt his intention to move any sand and improve the lie, but slo-mo, zoomed in video looked damning and โintentโ โ as is the case with many rulings in golf โ didnโt factor into this one.
A closer look at Patrick Reedโs two-stroke penalty during Round 3 of the Hero World Challenge. pic.twitter.com/z2aqkajnYq
โ PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 7, 2019
The video didnโt sit well with many of Reedโs peers and the golf world knew heโd hear it from fans at Royal Melbourne once the U.S. team arrived in Australia for the Presidents Cup. of the International team โ most notably Cameron Smith โ were vocal about Reedโs situation, with Smith going so far as to say, โI havenโt got any sympathy for someone who cheats. I hope the crowd absolutely gives it to not only him, but everyone (on the American team) next week.โ
As with any of these team events, the home crowd is always looking to get under the skin of the visiting teamโs players โ it happens everywhere. Weโve seen it in the U.S. at Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups, as well as in European Ryder Cups. Reed just seemed like an easy target this week and his antics in Fridayโs foursomes session certainly didnโt help his cause.
Reed heard this from a fan on Thursday:
Fan at the Presidentโs cup to Patrick Reed. โPatrick are you really going to make your caddy carry 14 clubs and a shovel?!โ #PresidentsCup #pgatour pic.twitter.com/Vylqsv2ZQm
โ BD (@B_Den1) December 11, 2019
And on Friday, this is how Reed responded after converting a birdie putt:
Patrick Reed pretends to dig with a shovelโฆ pic.twitter.com/rLw2smEZfA
โ Fantasy Golf Pod (@fantasygolfpod) December 13, 2019
Then the altercation happened between Karain and a spectator after the Saturday morning session, first reported by Golf Channelโs Steve Sands as the afternoon session was teeing off.
.@SteveSandsGC reports of an altercation between Patrick Reed's caddie and a spectator after the four-ball match on Day 3. pic.twitter.com/OwzBNXxixB
โ Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) December 14, 2019
As Sands reported, โ[Reed] was really hearing it from the fans, and it got a little out of control there.โ
Karain explained his side of the story to the Barstool Sports ForePlay podcast through a note that was tweeted outโฆ
Golf Channelโs Todd Lewis reported that Reedโs swing coach โ Kevin Kirk โ will be on the bag for Reed during Sundayโs singles.
