‘If it was someone on my team a bunch of us would ask him straight the question’

In among all the giggles and trash talking to kick off the Presidents Cup Louis Oosthuizen was sticking to the script in giving Patrick Reed a justifiable verbal kicking.

While Adam Scott was happy to ‘move on’, his South African team-mate said what most others were still thinking.

“I mean, he brought that on himself. I think he’s going to have a tough time with the media, anyway. I’m not really going to get into it. I mean, it looked like a very stupid thing he did,” Oosthuizen said.

But, given what we were talking about, there were more questions on how it might play out and whether Reed would likely come clean at any point?

“That’s going to be all on him what he really feels inside what he did. I mean, obviously it looks bad from the outside. It does not look great. So that’s something he needs to feel inside, and that’s the only thing that we can probably say for that. It doesn’t look great for him, I can say that. It’s going to be a tough one to get rid of.”

• Related: Rory on the Reed shambles
• Related: ‘I don’t have any sympathy for anyone that cheats’
• Related: Reed caught up in ‘cheat’ sandstorm

Just one more while we’re all here, Louis. Would you want him playing on your team? Cue cries of ‘Pat’s a great player, of course you would…’

“I think it would be something that everyone will address, the team would probably want to sit with him and talk it out if it was one of us. If it was someone on my team, I know a bunch of us would ask him straight the question, and then probably take it from there.”

Justin Thomas, dragging his club in the bunker: “P Reed, is this right?” pic.twitter.com/utHP3AL8TU

— Dylan Dethier (@dylan_dethier) December 10, 2019

As for the American team Captain, Woods said the trash talk hadn’t stopped throughout the entire flight and he and Reed had spoken about the incident.

“It was not a lengthy conversation. Pat and I are very good friends. We kept it short and brief, to the point, and the rules official gave him two shots. I think Pat will be fine. Pat is a great kid. He’s handled a tough upbringing well, and I just think that he’s one of our best team players and is one of the reasons why all of the guys wanted him on the team.”

Justin Thomas probably took the best approach, injecting a bit of humour into proceedings. Whoever gets to partner Reed this week, or even play against him, will be fascinating viewing.