Patrick Reed Is One of the Most Controversial Men in Golf and Has Been for Years

Golf is, generally speaking, not a sport that just anyone can play. You need clubs and access to a course and lots of spare time, so there are plenty of reasons that it's known primarily as a sport for the wealthy. That means that, to a certain extent, every professional golfer is a little bit alienating, even to people who might like to watch the sport.

Even by that standard, though, Patrick Reed is in a class by himself. The professional golfer is almost certainly the most hated man in golf, and many want to know how he wound up with that reputation. Here's what we know.

There are some obvious, and perhaps entirely understandable, reasons that Patrick is so hated by golf fans. Chief among them are his arrogance and his brash personality. Seven months into his 23rd year, Patrick had already won three times on the PGA Tour, which led him to boldly declare that he was probably one of the best golfers in the world, and even suggest that he was up there with the all-time greats.

“I have three wins on the PGA Tour,” he said in 2014. “I truly believe that I am a top-five player in the world.”

"I don't see a lot of guys that have done that besides Tiger Woods and the legends of the game. I believe in myself, especially with how hard I've worked. I'm one of the top five players in the world. I feel like I've proven myself."

Not exactly the kind of statement that makes people fall in love with you.

The root of the hatred for him goes even deeper than his arrogant public persona, though. After all, there are plenty of arrogant golfers.

The root seems to be the rumors around what happened when he was at the University of Georgia, which has been reported on at length even though no one has been able to come up with a definitive answer as to what happened.

In a book on the PGA Tour, Shane Ryan reported that there was a sort of cone of silence around Patrick's time at UGa, but rumors have swirled that Patrick might have cheated at golf, or even reported better scores for certain holes than he actually shot.

Patrick has always vociferously denied these claims, but there has long been an air of wrongdoing around him that followed him into his professional career.

He's also known for having a foul mouth on the course, and for occasionally using slurs to describe himself and others. In general, though, it seems like Patrick is defined by having a pretty unlikable personality. He has complained about fans, rules officials, and basically everyone else there is.

The core of the matter seems to be that people don't like Patrick because he's a rather hard person to like. That may sound harsh, but given all the evidence we have on his behavior, it seems to be the most accurate assessment.