Patrick Reed has filed a $750m defamation lawsuit against American television network The Golf Channel and its commentator Brandel Chamblee.
The filing says “calculated, malicious, false and reckless attacks” have caused 2018 Masters champion Reed major damages. The 32-year-old American suggests the comments have cost him several multi-million-dollar sponsorship deals.
Chamblee and The Golf Channel have yet to respond to Reed’s accusations. Reed joined the LIV Golf Series in June.
The lawsuit alleges that Chamblee and the network have been “actively targeting Reed since he was 23 years old, to destroy his reputation, create hate and a hostile work environment for him, and with the intention to discredit his name and accomplishments as a young, elite, world-class golfer”.
Reed goes on to accuse Chamblee of “misreporting information” with “reckless disregard of the truth”. A number of high-profile players have left the established American-based PGA Tour for the £1.6bn Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf circuit. The PGA Tour responded by imposing indefinite bans on players who committed to LIV Golf as well as raising the prize money for several of its own tournaments.
Reed’s is one of many expected legal battles between players on the LIV Golf Circuit and the PGA Tour, while players, such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, met this week to discuss the threat of the Saudi-funded tour.
