19th Hole
Patrick Reed launches yet another defamation lawsuit against golf media
Patrick Reed has filed yet another lawsuit against members of the media for ‘defamation, injurious falsehood and tortious interference.’
This particular lawsuit is against Shane Ryan of Golf Digest, Hachette, the New York Post, Fox Sports, Doug Ferguson and the Associated Press. These defendants have been named as co-conspirators in the claim along with the PGA Tour, NBC’s Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee, Damon Hack, Shane Bacon, Eamon Lynch, Golf Week, Gannett and others.
The new lawsuit alleges that the defendants have spread “malicious false allegations, all of which were designed to severely harm Reed, his family and colleagues personally and professionally. Reed is a former member of the PGA Tour, Masters Champion, among many other victories, accolades, and awards by the young age of 32.”
The lawsuit highlights Shane Ryan as “one of the earliest and perhaps the most hateful and unhinged of the defendants to defame, falsely injure and tortiously interfere with Mr. Reed, his family, and his colleagues”.
Shane Ryan wrote the book, “Slaying the Tiger: A Year Inside the Ropes on the New PGA Tour,” and recently released his newest nook, “The Cup They Couldn’t Lose: America, The Ryder Cup, and The Long Road to Whistling Straits,” which Reed’s team alleges “compounds and republishes the alleged false and very damaging attacks.”
The complaint alleges that Ryan is “pathologically obsessed with harming Mr. Reed and his family and colleagues, and given his well-known incestuous relationship with those on the PGA Tour” and that “his latest book is part and parcel to the deluge of defamatory statements that have been published not just by the Defendants in this case, but also regurgitated with actual malice by Brandel Chamblee, Damon Hack, Shane Bacon and Eamon Lynch, commentators on NBC’s Golf Channel, which according to PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan is the PGA Tour’s partner. Chamblee, and the others are Defendants in a related suit styled Reed v. Chamblee, also filed in federal court in Jacksonville, Florida”
Reed’s attorney, Larry Klayman, spoke after filing the lawsuit on his client’s behalf.
“My client, his family and colleagues have been made the whipping boy of cheap and dishonest journalists in the golf media, like Shane Ryan, who feed at the trough of the PGA Tour, a tour that historically mistreated Mr. Reed. Indeed, my client’s move to LIV Golf was primarily due to this mistreatment, where adequate security was not even provided at PGA Tour events, where hostile fans vilified and threatened Mr. Reed, his wife, caddie, and coach, thanks to the rank defamation and other alleged illegal acts of Defendants in these two recently filed lawsuits.”
“Mr. Reed, on behalf of himself, his family, and colleagues, simply will not take it anymore and he is fighting back in the courts to not just redeem his rightful reputation for honesty and superior golf achievements and successes, but also to protect his loved ones from the likes of Shane Ryan, Doug Ferguson and the rest of the jackals who make their sorry and pathetic living spreading lies and false information about him. These types of journalists, publishers and networks give the good ones a bad name, by publishing and broadcasting false information to the masses for their own financial gain to generate readers, viewership, clicks, and for no other reason than to use Mr. Reed callously and cruelly as a tool to make money, no matter how harmful it has been or will be to his career, his family, colleagues and his life.”
“Let it be known that anyone who emulates Shane Ryan and the other defendants in these two lawsuits, in order to make a cheap profit and harm Mr. Reed, his family, and colleagues, will be held accountable under the letter of the law.”
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19th Hole
3-time PGA Tour winner calls for LIV to buy Champions Tour to fix ‘joke’ purses
While speaking on the Subpar podcast, former PGA Tour winner and current PGA Tour Champions player Chris DiMarco said he hopes LIV buys the Champions Tour.
“We’re kind of hoping that LIV buys the Champions Tour,” he said.
“Let’s play for a little real money out here. I mean this is kind of a joke when we’re getting $2 million. There were like seven guys last week from TPC (Sawgrass, at the $25 million PLAYERS Championship) that made more money than our purses.”
In 2024, the Champions Tour had a total of $67 million in prize money over the course of 24 events.
DiMarco also defended LIV players for taking the money and said he would take it also.
“They wanted to play for a lot of money, and they deserve it. They have had some great careers, why not go and get some money?”
DiMarco also offered insight on Graeme McDowell’s move to LIV.
“I saw Graeme McDowell at the Old Memorial Pro Member, and he goes, ‘Listen, I went up to Jay Monahan and said I love the tour but I am struggling to keep my card and these guys are offering me all this money and less golf. I’m sorry, I’m going.’ And I do not blame him one bit, and I said I would have too.”
DiMarco was ranked as high as 6th in the world in 2006.
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- Edoardo Molinari reveals the latest PGA Tour golfer to turn down ‘good offer’ from LIV Golf
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19th Hole
‘It won’t win you golf tournaments’ – Golf analyst rips Charley Hull’s course management
Charley Hull came just short of her third LPGA Tour victory over the weekend at the Fir Hills Seri Pak Championship when she played her last two holes at 3 over to slip all the way to 10th on the leaderboard.
After the round, Hull was blasted by Sky Sports commentator and former LPGA Tour player Trish Johnson for her lack of golf course management.
While speaking on the Sky Sports Golf podcast, Johnson spoke harshly of Hull.
“I’m probably her harshest critic, because I know how good she is. She doesn’t win anywhere near enough for her talent, and she doesn’t get involved enough, in all honestly.
“The thing with Charley is that you’re never going to change her. I read something the other day that said how much she loves the game and it’s her love of the game [that costs her]. She’s never going to change and she’s just going to go for every pin.
“In theory that’s great, but it won’t win you golf tournaments, it just won’t because she’s not that much better than anybody else. If you put Charley against Nelly Korda, then I’m picking Nelly every single day of the week.”
Johnson also made a fascinating comparison between Hull and a famous male golfer, John Daly.
“Golf-wise that’s the way she plays the game and it’s a little bit like watching John Daly I suppose.”
“There’s something that John Daly had that made him a major winner and a winner, but Charley is kind of lacking that. Her talent is not in question, but maybe her application is. Maybe it’s just the case of her never changing and that will cost her golf tournaments, there’s no two ways about it. You cannot go for every pin because that’s the way you play and it being fun, as other players are better than that and you have to have course management.”
Hull is still only 27, and therefore has plenty of time to work on her flaws to achieve the success her talent should allow.
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19th Hole
Former agent lifts lid on being fired by ‘zombie’ Tiger Woods
Discussing his new book “Rainmaker” with the Daily Mail, Tiger Woods’ former agent, Hughes Norton, recounted the events leading up to and after his split with the 15-time major champion.
Norton was abruptly fired by Woods in 1998 after his 1997 Masters win and monster deal with Nike.
In the book, Norton talks about the way Tiger views his relationships, calling him a “zombie.”
“The solace I can take, which doesn’t provide much, is this: He was an equal opportunity zombie with relationships, his swing coaches, his lawyer, the guy negotiated the IMG representation deal, with caddies, When it’s over, it’s over.”
Norton added:
“It is the way he terminates relationships with everyone. Whether it’s girlfriends, whether it’s his former golf coaches. It’s ironic, really. In a way he’s so good at confrontation on the golf course. If he’s playing you, he will beat your brains out every single time.
“But when it comes to confronting things like me and other people that are in his life, he has no social skills whatsoever. It’s maddening, actually.”
After he was fired by Woods, Norton was let go by IMG, which he believes was due to Woods’ influence.
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