Patrick Reed addresses historical cheating and theft allegations
LIV Golf League star Patrick Reed has addressed claims he cheated and stole from his teammates on the eve of the 2024 Masters.
Patrick Reed has addressed historical cheating claims on the eve of the 2024 Masters.
Reed, 33, opened up on the subject in an interview with GOLF's Dylan Dethier.
The golfer told the publication he believes all of the accusations are 'BS' and he doesn't know where they came from.
Reed faced allegations of cheating and theft during his time at the University of Georgia.
The allegations were first exposed by the golf author Shane Ryan in his book: "Slaying the Tiger: A Year Inside the Ropes on the New PGA Tour."
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Ryan contended that Reed cheated in a team qualifying round whilst at UGA and stole from his teammates.
Reed later told Golf Channel he was dismissed for alcohol violations.
Still, he was so ticked off with the allegations from Ryan's book he demanded a retraction.
Ryan was also named in Reed's failed defamation lawsuit he brought last year against members of the golf media.
Dethier put it to Reed: "I know you said you would do some things differently, but these allegations of cheating and stealing that have kind of followed you from college..."
Reed interjected: "I have no idea where that came from. Absolutely no idea.
"I mean, both coaches even signed statements saying that, no, I have never stolen or cheated ever. So, I mean, that stuff to me is BS obviously.
"I mean, I don't know who [did it], because it's all these unnamed sources [and] no one is actually putting a name to it.
"So, it's one of those where I don't know how or why it has come out especially [considering] it didn't come out whilst I was in college.
"No one has ever come up to me."
He added: "The reason I left UGA is because I was unhappy and to be honest with you I'm glad I did because who knows what those next couple of years would have been like."
Reed turned professional in 2011 and went on to have a successful PGA Tour career, winning on nine occasions before deciding to switch to the LIV Golf League in 2022.
The 2018 Masters champion also faced allegations of cheating during his PGA Tour days.
Reed was heavily scrutinised for an infraction he committed during the 2019 Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas.
He was docked two strokes after it was deemed he improved his lie in the waste area.
In January 2021, Reed also faced similar criticism after he obtained free relief for an embedded ball in the rough at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.
Reed marked and picked up his ball to check the lie before a rules official arrived.
Video footage showed the ball had bounced, leading some to question whether it could have truly been embedded.
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