Patrick Reed’s defamation lawsuits against golf media, which sought more than $1 billion combined, were dismissed by the federal district court in Jacksonville, affirmed on appeal by the Eleventh Circuit, and finally shut down on May 18, 2026, when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case.1U.S. Supreme Court. Docket No. 25M80: Reed v. Ryan Every claim against every defendant failed.
What Reed Was Suing Over
The suits grew out of years of coverage tying Reed to cheating allegations. During the third round of the 2019 Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas, PGA Tour rules official Slugger White assessed Reed a two-stroke penalty under Rule 8.1 after he brushed sand from behind his ball during practice swings in a waste area. White said “intent would not matter here.”2PGA Tour. Patrick Reed Penalized for Rules Breach at Hero World Challenge Reed accepted the penalty but said the movement was unintentional.3Golf.com. Patrick Reed Rules Column: Hero World Challenge
Coverage also revisited older reporting that Reed had been accused of cheating and stealing from teammates while at Augusta State University, suspended for two matches, and voted off the team. Reed disputed those accounts. Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee had been criticizing Reed over the allegations for years. Reed’s lawyer sent Chamblee a cease-and-desist letter in January 2020. The commentary continued. After Reed joined LIV Golf in 2022, scrutiny intensified, and he sued.4ESPN. LIV Golf: Reed Files Lawsuit, Alleges Defamation
Who He Sued and For How Much
Two federal defamation cases went forward, both filed by attorney Larry Klayman. Together they named 18 defendants.
The first, filed in Texas in August 2022 and then refiled in September 2022 in the Middle District of Florida, sought $750 million from Golf Channel, Chamblee, hosts Damon Hack and Shane Bacon, Golfweek columnist Eamon Lynch, New Yorker writer Zach Helfand, and their parent companies Gannett and Condé Nast. The complaint alleged defamation, civil conspiracy, injurious falsehood, and tortious interference.5The Athletic. Patrick Reed Lawsuit Dismissed
The second, filed in November 2022, sought $250 million from author Shane Ryan and publisher Hachette Book Group over Ryan’s 2015 book The Cup They Couldn’t Lose, Associated Press writer Doug Ferguson, Fox Sports, the New York Post and reporter Gavin Newsham, and Bloomberg reporter Erik Larson.6U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Corrigan Order of Dismissal
A third suit never materialized. In January 2023, Klayman sent a letter threatening a $450 million action against CNN, Jake Tapper, and Bob Costas over a LIV Golf segment, giving the network five days to apologize on air. CNN called the threat “frivolous.” Nothing was filed.7Golfweek. Patrick Reed CNN Jake Tapper Bob Costas Lawsuit
Why the District Court Dismissed the Cases
Both suits went to U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan in Jacksonville. On September 27, 2023, he issued a 78-page ruling dismissing both with prejudice. The reasoning ran on several tracks.
Many of the more than 50 challenged statements were not about Reed at all, but about LIV Golf or its players generally, and much of the rest was what the court called “protected pure opinion or rhetorical hyperbole.” As the judge put it, “pure opinions cannot provide the basis for a defamation claim.”6U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Corrigan Order of Dismissal
As a public figure, Reed had to plead facts showing the defendants either knew their statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The judge found he had not, and called that failure “fatal to each defamation claim.”6U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Corrigan Order of Dismissal
The complaints also had structural problems. The judge described them as “neither short nor plain,” noting that Reed’s team had incorporated all 120 factual allegations into every count instead of tying specific facts to specific claims. Additional defendants dropped out for failure to serve process, lack of personal jurisdiction, or the wrong corporate entity being named.8Golfweek. LIV Golf News: Patrick Reed Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed The tortious interference counts were separately barred under Florida’s single action rule, which prevents multiple causes of action arising from the same publication that underlies a defamation claim.6U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Corrigan Order of Dismissal
In January 2024, Judge Corrigan ordered Reed to pay the defendants’ attorneys’ fees, finding that they had “exercised the constitutional right of free speech.”9Golfweek. Patrick Reed Lawsuits Ordered to Pay Attorneys Fees
The Eleventh Circuit Affirms
Reed appealed. A three-judge panel of Circuit Judges Robert Luck, Barbara Lagoa, and Nancy Abudu heard argument on May 2, 2025. During the hearing, Judge Luck asked Reed’s counsel: “If they are true stories, whether they are negative or not, how can a bunch of true stories be actual malice?” Judge Abudu pointed out that some of the articles at issue had included Reed’s own denials, which suggested balance rather than recklessness.10Courthouse News Service. Pro Golfer Asks 11th Circuit for Another Shot at Defamation Suit Against Media
The panel affirmed on July 8, 2025, in a per curiam opinion. Reed’s pleadings, the court found, relied on “conclusory allegations” and “formulaic recitations” of actual malice without supporting facts. The court rejected the argument that a defendant’s ill will or personal animosity showed malice, saying those factors “play no role” in the analysis, and rejected the argument that a failure to investigate the underlying allegations, standing alone, proved recklessness. Publishers, the court wrote, may rely on prior reports from “reputable sources.”11Courthouse News Service. Reed v. Golf Channel Opinion, Eleventh Circuit Because Reed had already amended his complaints twice without curing the defects, a third attempt would be “futile.”12Golfweek. Patrick Reed Appeal: $750M Lawsuit Dismissed
The Supreme Court Ends It
Reed filed a motion asking the Supreme Court to accept a late petition for a writ of certiorari. On May 18, 2026, the Court denied the motion without noted dissent.1U.S. Supreme Court. Docket No. 25M80: Reed v. Ryan The Eleventh Circuit’s ruling stands, and the dismissals against every defendant are final.13Yahoo Sports. Patrick Reed Dealt Major Legal Setback
The Lawyer Behind the Suits
Larry Klayman, the founder of Freedom Watch, brought both cases. The Southern Poverty Law Center has described him as “pathologically litigious.” He has filed 18 lawsuits against the Clinton administration, challenged Barack Obama’s citizenship, sued China for $20 trillion over COVID-19, and sued President Biden over the alleged suppression of his YouTube channel. He was already barred for life from federal courts in California and New York when Reed retained him.14Jacksonville.com. Patrick Reed Refiles Defamation Lawsuit in Jacksonville, Adds Golfweek, Gannett
Klayman had received a 90-day suspension from the D.C. Bar in 2020 for a conflict of interest and an 18-month suspension in 2022 for misconduct that included improperly increasing his contingency fee in another matter. On November 6, 2025, the Supreme Court of Florida suspended him for two years based on the D.C. discipline.15Supreme Court of Florida. Opinion SC2023-1219: Klayman Suspension
The McIlroy Subpoena Side-Story
The litigation produced one of the more memorable golf-world moments of the LIV era. On Christmas Eve 2022, Klayman served Rory McIlroy with a subpoena in a separate antitrust class action Klayman had filed against the PGA Tour and DP World Tour on behalf of “golf fans and consumers.”16CNN. Rory McIlroy Patrick Reed Tee Subpoena At the January 2023 Dubai Desert Classic, McIlroy said he ignored Reed on the practice range because of the holiday-week subpoena. Reed flicked a LIV Golf-branded tee in his direction and told reporters: “If you’re going to act like an immature little child, then you might as well be treated like one.” McIlroy said if the roles were reversed, he would be expecting a lawsuit.17Bleacher Report. Rory McIlroy Says He Received Subpoena From Patrick Reed’s Lawyer on Christmas Eve That antitrust case, Klayman v. PGA Tour et al., was dismissed by a Palm Beach County circuit court, and a Florida state appeals court affirmed the dismissal on February 5, 2026.18Florida District Court of Appeal. Klayman v. PGA Tour, Opinion 4D2024-2604