Patrick Reed Ordered To Pay Damages To Brandel Chamblee: What Was the Defamation Suit About?

Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed faces a major setback from a Federal Court judge. The story started in 2022 when the golfer’s defamation lawsuit against golf analyst Brandel Chamblee and others, was turned down by the jurisdiction. Now, as per current updates, his actions have backfired on him. 

The federal magistrate has ordered him to pay a compensation fee to Brandel Chamblee and other news associates, against whom he lodged a case for criticizing him publicly, following his defection to LIV Golf. Moreover, by now, his $750 million lawsuit has been turned down twice. Along with Chamblee, he took legal action against Golfweek, golf reporter Shane Ryan, and other newspersons. US District Judge Timothy Corrigan dismissed the suit for the second time in a row. 

Judge Overrules Patrick Reed’s Lawsuit Request And Piled Him Down With Hefty Charges

Patrick Reed has been given a deadline of February 23 to respond to the defendants. Corrigan wrote in his verdict that the case had been reviewed carefully to come to a decision.

“Reed seeks solely to relitigate past arguments, old matters, and case law previously considered by the Court.” 

Added to that, he also wrote, “He argues the Court ignored case law he cited and misstated the law. This is incorrect. The Court carefully reviewed and heard the briefs and arguments presented before issuing the dispositive Order.” 

Reed filed the case twice. He filed it first in Houston and a second time in Jacksonville. The golfer accused the press associates of  jointly conspiring against him to defame him with false information. As the judge overruled Reed’s accusations, he said that most of the comments were meant for LIV Golf and not for Reed. Although Reed’s lawyer tried to represent the case as an agenda by the PGA Tour to destroy LIV Golf and its players along with their families, the court wasn’t ready to accept it. 

Corrigan dismissed all these pleas by stating that Reed’s name has come under negative media coverage but “under Florida law and the First Amendment, Reed fails to bring actionable defamation claims and his cases therefore must be dismissed.” 

Corrigan has supported the press for free speech and that is a right of every individual. Thus, Reed’s year has started with a huge backlash, and going forward, it is to see if the case is settled.

Post Edited By: Manaal Siddiqui
Patrick Reed

About the author

Avatar photo

Suchita Chakraborty

Suchita Chakraborty is a senior golf writer at The SportsRush. She did her post-graduation at St. Xavier's University. For a year now, she has developed a riveting inclination toward golf, with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy being her top-tier motivational figures to indulge in the sport. She even lives by the words of the Hall of Famer, "You can always become better", which impels her to excel every day. Her strong suit in golf is covering the LPGA Tour, especially the nooks and crannies of the international event, the Solheim Cup. As a pastime amusement, Suchita also engages herself in reading about golf controversies. Her favorite pick is ‘LIV and Let Die’ by Alan Shipnuck, which covers the PGA-LIV beef.

Don’t miss these