Will Pat Reed drop $1bn legal fight after PGA Tour/LIV deal? Attorney: No

Patrick Reed's attorney says the LIV Golf player has no plans to drop his defamation lawsuits against members of the golf media.

Ben Smith

30 Jun 2023

Will Pat Reed drop $1bn legal fight after PGA Tour/LIV deal? Attorney: No

The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have officially ended their legal battle but Patrick Reed has no plans to drop his defamation lawsuits.

Reed is currently embroiled in two federal defamation lawsuits against members of the golf media.

In total, the American golfer is seeking in excess of $1bn in damages between the two cases.

Related: G-Mac blasts Sir Nick Faldo

On 17 June, attorneys for the PGA Tour and LIV Golf filed motions to drop their lawsuits against each other.

Reed, 32, was not among the 11 LIV Golf members who challenged their suspensions from the PGA Tour in the original antitrust suit.

He later brought two lawsuits against members of the golf media, alleging he had been defamed in a variety of ways.

Specifically, Reed has alleged that over a period of nine years:

"The defendants conspired 'to destroy his reputation, create hate, and a hostile work environment for him, with the intention to discredit his name and accomplishments as a young, elite, world-class golfer, and the good and caring person, husband and father of two children that he is.'"

One of Reed's lawsuits against prominent LIV Golf critic and Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee and others was dismissed by a federal judge in November 2022.

But Reed's attorney Larry Klayman has since filed an amended complaint. Klayman told Front Office Sports that despite golf's organisations coming together to make peace, they have no plans to drop their litigation.

He told the publication:

"There is no pressure and Patrick's suits are unconnected to any proposed merger between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf. They continue on."

Reed's attorney has previously issued subpoenas for high-profile golfers such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, although that was for a separate case against the PGA Tour.

This was why McIlroy famously ignored Reed on the driving range at the Dubai Desert Classic earlier in the year.

| LIV Golf's Patrick Reed has filed another defamation lawsuit against the media, this time wanting $250m in damages.
Scroll down for more information. pic.twitter.com/UC7qq1gG8A
— GolfMagic (@GolfMagic) November 2, 2022

The exchange ended with Reed gently flicking a LIV Golf-branded tee in McIlroy's direction.

For his part, Reed labelled McIlroy as an 'immature little child' for the way he behaved.

Despite that exchange being rightly described as 'nothing' and 'a storm in a tea cup' by McIlroy, he did reveal that he wasn't interested in talking to Reed as he was served notice of a subpoena by Klayman on Christmas Eve when he was at home with his daughter Poppy and wife Erica Stoll.

A subpoena is a legal order requiring a person or organisation to produce documents or give evidence in a case.

McIlroy previously explained:

"So again, I am living in reality. I don't know where he't living. If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't expect a hello or a handshake. I was down by my bag and he came up to me, and I was busy working and sort of doing my practice, and I didn't really feel the need to acknowledge him."

Reed is currently in Valderrama playing LIV Golf's eight event of their second campaign.

Watched our latest YouTube video?