Reed rejects cheat allegations after punishment for improving lie from his ball

Patrick Reed is part of the American Tiger Woods team for the Presidential Cup

Patrick Reed says he should not be called a cheat after being punished for improving the lie of his ball during the Hero World Challenge last Friday.

The 2018 Masters champion moved sand into a bunker with his practice swing, which has a two-stroke penalty.

Reed, who will play for the US in this week's Presidential Cup, was criticized by players from the International team.

He said, "I didn't try to improve a lie. If you accidentally break the rules, it's not cheating."

The 29-year-old is a selection of wildcards in the Tiger Woods team at the Presidential Cup-style in Ryder Cup, which starts on Thursday in Royal Melbourne in Australia.

Team Captain Woods called Reed & # 39; a great kid & # 39; and said they had discussed the incident on the Bahamas plane to Australia.

"It was not a long conversation," he explained. "We kept it short and to the point.

" The official official gave him two shots. He finished at 16 below, two behind [winner] Henrik [Stenson] and now we continue to this week. "

Reed has been criticized by members of Ernie Els' international team, including the Australian Cameron Smith, who said he" has no sympathy for someone cheating ".

" I think it's only natural, "said Els." These guys are competitors. They clearly didn't like what they saw.

"Like Tiger, we move on; we have a cup to play for. It has nothing to do with us. It is actually what happened, and I think Tiger deals with this and Patrick with it.

"We are getting ready to play the Presidential Cup. There is nothing more to say. "