Patrick Reed found himself back in the news Thursday, and it had nothing to do with his opening round at the Sony Open in Hawaii.

The Golf Channel broke a story that dealt with Reed’s attorney sending a cease-and-desist letter to the broadcast network, particularly golf analyst Brandel Chamblee, to not say Reed cheated at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge in early December. Reed suffered a two-stroke penalty after PGA Tour rules officials reviewed a video that appeared to show that he improved his lie in a bunker by twice scooping sand from behind the golf ball during practice swings.

Reed denied that he did it on purpose. Even PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said Sunday he took Reed at his word.

“The purpose of this letter is to obtain assurance that you will refrain from any further dissemination, publication or republication of false and defamatory statements concerning Mr. Reed, including any allegations that he ‘cheated’ at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas,” wrote Peter Ginsberg, a partner at the New York City law firm of Sullivan & Worcester, according to the Golf Channel, which posted a story on this matter Thursday morning Hawaii time.

Reed dealt with numerous problems at the Presidents Cup, with fans heckling him, something you might expect in a team competition. But the allegation came to the forefront once more on Sunday when someone yelled out the word “cheater” a second or two after Reed putted at the third playoff hole of the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Maui.

Reed and playing partner Justin Thomas, who eventually beat Reed with a birdie on the final playoff hole, said they didn’t hear anything, which is likely since the tradewinds were howling at the time. But it was easy to hear from the grandstands surrounding the 18th hole and was picked up clearly in the nationally televised broadcast.

Reed was paired with Brandt Snedecker and first-round leader Collin Morikawa on Thursday. He opened with a 1-under 69. He is scheduled to go off No. 1 today at 12:40 p.m.