Patrick Reed to appeal "outrageous rulings" as counsel says fight far from over

Patrick Reed will appeal the rulings dismissing his defamation cases against Brandel Chamblee and others who "harmed him in attempt to destroy LIV Golf", according to Reed's attorney. 

Reed, 33, was ordered to pay attorney fees and costs to media outlets after his $750m lawsuit was twice dismissed by federal judge Timothy Corrigan, it was revealed on Jan. 6. 

LIV Golf star Reed has been ordered to pay attorney fees and costs to Golf Channel analysts Chamblee and Damon Hack, Fox Sports reporter Shane Ryan, Golfweek.com and its columnist Eamon Lynch, Associated Press writer Doug Ferguson and Gannett (Times-Union parent organisation). 

The ruling was first reported by Andrew Pantanzi, editor of The Tributary.

The 2018 Masters champion had alleged each of the defendants above had committed "conspiracy, defamation, injurious falsehood and tortious interference" and that they had acted "in concert as joint tortfeasors."

Reed took aim at being criticised for a number of golf rule issues, in particular the one from Tiger Woods' Hero World Challenge in 2019, as well as his decision to jump ship from the PGA Tour to the Saudi-bankrolled LIV Golf League in 2022.

US Middle District Court Judge Timothy Corrigan dismissed Reed's lawsuit for a second time on September 27, 2023. 

Corrigan also denied motions by Reed for Corrigan to recuse himself and to reconsider his earlier dismissal.

In Corrigan's ruling, he wrote: 

Corrigan has ordered the law firms representing each of the defendants to file a motion for the attorney fees and costs. 

Reed was told he had until February 23, 2024, in which to respond. 

But in an email sent to GolfMagic following the latest update, Reed's counsel Larry Klayman instantly responded on January 6: 

Here's the email in full that was sent to GolfMagic on January 6: 

Today, the attorney for world class professional golfer, Masters Champion, nine time PGA Tour winner, Ryder Cup hero, and two-time Olympian Patrick Reed, Larry Klayman, reacted to the latest outrageous rulings by a federal judge, Timothy Corrigan, that he would not reconsider his rulings dismissing defamation claims against the dishonest and unethical golf media likes of Brandel Chamblee, Shane Ryan, Eamon Lynch, Doug Ferguson and others who were used by the PGA Tour to harm Reed as a means to compete unfairly against and kill LIV Golf.

In cases styled Reed v. Chamblee et. al, 3:22-cv-01059 -TJC-PDB (M.D. Fl.)  and Reed v. Ryan et. al, 3:22-cv-01181-TJC-PDB (M.D. Fl.), Reed argued, with hard facts and the law on his side,  that it was impossible for this jurist, who is demonstrably biased in favor of these defendants and the PGA Tour, to have dismissed all alleged 55 defamatory statements, without allowing a jury to decide even one. Judge Corrigan arrogantly and corruptly arrogated unto himself all authority to decide the case, in violation of our jury system, which the Founding Fathers put in place to avoid injustices such as this.

Predictably, Judge Corrigan’s refusal to reconsider his rulings was devoid of factual and bona fide legal justification. He simply rubber stamped his prior egregiously wrong decisions without any factual or legal analysis.

To add insult to injury, Judge Corrigan, who has close ties to the PGA Tour and an attorney, Minch Minchin, who represented Chamblee and other defendants such as Golf Channel – the jurist also having even been a member of the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club, where tour brass like Commissioner Jay Monahan also are members --  ordered that attorneys fees be paid to the Chamblee and Golf Channel defendants. His ruling, which also shows bias and prejudice,  is contrary to the edits of Chief Judge William Pryor of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, which higher court will review Judge Corrigan’s rulings on appeal.  Other federal appellate courts have also ruled that state anti-SLAPP statutes which allow for attorneys fees in some state courts do not apply to actions in federal court based on diversity of citizenship of the parties, which was the case here.

Larry Klayman, counsel for Mr. Reed, had this to say after the latest outrageous  rulings by Judge Corrigan:

“Mr. Reed is confident that all of  the prejudiced and unlawful rulings of Judge Corrigan will be reversed on appeal and that justice will be done. The dishonest and unethical fake news golf media, in the hip pocket of and dependent on the PGA Tour, must be held to account for their callous and malicious attempts to destroy Mr. Reed, as a means to try to destroy LIV Golf, for clicks and profits. Stay tuned. This fight is far from over!”

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