Patrick Reed’s Lawyer Tells Brandon Chamblee To Stop Calling His Client A ‘Cheater’

The lawyer for Patrick Reed sent Brandel Chamblee a cease and desist letter that demanded he stop calling Reed a “cheater” following his performance at a tournament in the Bahamas last month.

Reed’s lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, told Golfweek’s website his intention “is to obtain assurance that you will refrain from any further dissemination, publication or republication of false and defamatory statements concerning Mr. Reed, including any allegations that he ‘cheated’ at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.”

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In the third round of the tournament, Reed received a two-stroke penalty for altering his line of play after he took two practice strokes in a waste area, according to ESPN. Chamblee claimed on air, “To defend what Patrick Reed did is defending cheating. It’s defending breaking the rules.”

Ginsberg claims Reed did not intend to cheat.

“Indeed, as you should know, and presumably do know but chose to ignore, if the PGA Tour believed that Mr. Reed had intentionally violated any rule, he would have been disqualified from the tournament rather than assessed a two-stroke penalty. Everyone involved agrees that Mr. Reed acted unintentionally, and the tape of the incident fully supports that conclusion,” Ginsberg told Golfweek.

Chamblee told ESPN, “The letter accuses flippant and reckless comments. My comments were weighed heavily before they came out of my mouth, and they were meant to address the larger issue of what I believe to be the decaying traditions of the game. This game has always had at its core the belief that self-governing gives the game its appeal. Inasmuch as we play the game for camaraderie. The self-governing tradition is slowly being replaced by a catch-me-if-you-can attitude.

“I think the whole golf world was watching how the Reed incident was treated. Including the young men and women who will soon be on their respective tours. If the catch-me-if-you-can attitude pervades junior golf, 10 years later it pervades professional golf and that concerns me. And was the origin of my remarks.”

Chamblee told Golfweek he received the letter during the President’s Cup. Reed had played in the tournament winning a singles match en route to a United States’ victory.

Ginsberg previously represented Vijay Singh, Hank Haney and former Raven’s running back Ray Rice.