LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed loses appeal in $750m defamation suit
LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed has lost an appeal in a $750m defamation suit relating to comments made about his move to the Saudi Arabia-backed league.
The 34-year-old former Masters champion had initially said that comments – made by the Golf Channel, commentator Brandel Chamblee and others – after Reed chose to ditch the PGA Tour for LIV Golf crossed into the arena of defamation and caused the American to lose out on “multiple multi-million-dollar sponsorship deals”.
He alleges he suffered damages exceeding $750m and listed companies such as Nike, Draft Kings, Callaway and Titleist among those who did not renew deals with him.
The American alleged initially that remarks made by commentators and others relating to his move to the Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf League had caused harm.
The original suit includes a podcast remark, in which Chamblee said in relation to whether a golfer should play for a Saudi entity: “I mean would you have played for Stalin would you have played for Hitler would you have played for Mao would you play for Pol Pot . . . would you have played for Putin… which… and this who this guy [Saudi leaders] is. He settles disputes with bone saws.”
Reed loses appeal
The Eleventh Circuit’s three-judge panel – consisting of Judges Robert J. Luck, Barbara Lagoa and Nancy G. Abudu – concluded that Reed failed “to plead any Defendant acted with actual malice in making any of the statements.”
And upon appeal – on two separate federal lawsuit counts – his case was dismissed by a Florida judge.
He is able to petition the Eleventh Circuit for a rehearing but these are rarely heard. The American is within his rights to petition the US Supreme Court.
LIV Golf returns this weekend in Spain before heading to the JCB Club for the Great Britain leg.
Reed is currently fourth in the LIV Golf solo league, behind Joaquin Niemann, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. He won his first event of the season last time out in Dallas.