Twitter account linked to Patrick Reed makes “smear” claim

It was an otherwise quiet Wednesday afternoon in the world of professional golf. Then the people behind the controls of the @useGolfFacts Twitter account dropped a pretty heavy bombshell.

“Of course it can be true that in the case of Patrick Reed he *may* have cheated, but that doesn’t mean he always cheats,” wrote Pepperell. “I’ve played with Patrick and was astonished at how skilful a golfer he was. This is why it’s so sad that there are so many episodes like this with him…”

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Responding to Pepperell’s tweet now nine months after the fact, @useGolfFacts disputed the Englishman’s “many episodes” assertion.

They then went further, making the remarkable allegation that television pictures from another controversy involving the former Masters champion – this time during the 2019 Hero World Challenge – were purposefully altered in an attempt to discredit Reed.

“Many episodes… No,” tweeted the account. “‘The Sand’ incident – An expert forensic videographer broke that down… Altered footage from a copy of LIVE broadcast…from his actual shot to the shot shown in replays – basically DIGITALLY ALTERED to publicly smear and cause damages to PREED.“

In a follow-up tweet to another user, the same account claimed that “over 180 hours” had “gone into this”, adding that “it’s very clear”.

The incident in question pertains to Reed appearing to have improved his lie during the third round of the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas in December 2019.