The entire tour has handled this terribly. Reed should have been disqualified for the President's Cup. Instead, the entire team rallied around Reed and joked about it. That kind of response really gets people enraged, because that is the opposite of fairness. And then you've got Reed fake raking bunkers at the Cup, which is just adding fuel to the fire.And if he thinks this is the best way to handle things, this will escalate quickly.
https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/28454565/lawyer-warns-brandel-chamblee-stop-calling-patrick-reed-cheater
There seems to be (at least) two factors at work here:
1. Patrick Reed is a deeply-flawed, dysfunctional human who has the talent to win without cheating, but apparently cannot stop himself.
2. He has surrounded himself with friends/advisors who are providing extremely destructive advice.
“Deny and counterattack” is a strategy that guarantees a maximum Streisand effect. This is going to be a long, ugly year.
Reed's entire career has been surrounded by cheating allegations and then he finally get nailed on camera cheating and his response is to send letters from his lawyer. It is definitely going to be a long, ugly year.