The 2018 Masters champion—who has since defected from the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf—claimed Chamblee and the network have been “targeting Reed since he was 23 years old,” acting to stain his reputation with reports of cheating. In one instance at the ’19 Hero World Challenge, Chamblee criticized Reed for a penalty he received when he illegally improved his lie in a bunker, as verified by PGA Tour rules officials.
In September, Reed refiled the lawsuit to include Golf Channel analysts Damon Hack, Shane Bacon and Eamon Lynch. Reed also brought suit against Golfweek, where Lynch is a columnist, and their parent company Gannett. In this same refiling, the suit was moved from Texas to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Jacksonville.
