LIV Golf rebel Patrick Reed has reportedly 'refiled' his defamation lawsuit against Golf Channel employee Brandel Chamblee, and added a number of the pundit's colleagues to the claim, as well as DP World Tour boss Keith Pelley and PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
Reed initially filed the suit against Chamblee in August. He claimed that the Golf Channel pundit had colluded with the PGA Tour to repeatedly defamed his name whilst competing.
Reed has since refiled the case and now fellow Golf Channel employees Damon Hack, Shane Bacon and Eamon Lynch, along with parent companies Golfweek and Gannett, are also named.
NBC Sports refused to comment when contact by Mirror Sport, whilst Patrick Reed's team have also been contacted.
The refiled claim by attorney Larry Klayman states that the sued pundits acted in: “A pattern and practice of defaming Mr. Reed, misreporting information with actual knowledge of falsity and/or reckless disregard of the truth, that is with actual and constitutional malice, purposely omitting pertinent key material facts to mislead the public, and actively targeting Mr. Reed since he was 23 years old, to destroy his reputation, create hate, and a hostile work environment for him, with the intention to discredit his name and accomplishments.”
As well as those employed by Golf Channel, the 2018 Masters champion is also looking to take action against the sport's two leading tours, and their commissioners Monahan and Pelley. Reed is looking to claim $750 million (£687m) in compensation.
In the newly presented case, it alleges that both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour worked alongside Golf Channel as 'co-conspiratorial agents' to halt the progression of LIV Golf as a professional circuit, the series in which Reed joined earlier this summer.
The 32-year-old - represented by Klayman - also went on to claim that Tour boss Monahan, and the NBC-owned channel 'engaged in a pattern and practice of defaming Mr. Reed.” Mirror Sport has also contacted the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, with both refusing to comment.
Reed was scheduled to return to DP World Tour action this week at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. However, the former Masters champion was remarkably forced to withdraw from the event due to suffering an injury in his hotel room at the French Open last week.
Speaking to Irish Golfer, he said: “The mattress was just too soft for me. I played well in the pro-am but the pain in my back was getting worse. It’s disappointing as I was looking forward to coming back to France after being there for the Ryder Cup.”
