Nicklaus Awarded $50 Million in Settlement Over False LIV Golf Defamation Claims

A Florida jury has awarded golf legend Jack Nicklaus $50 million in a high-profile defamation lawsuit against Nicklaus Companies, the organization formerly controlled by the 18-time major champion and financed by billionaire Howard Milstein.

The lawsuit centered on claims that Nicklaus had considered a $750 million offer to join LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed golf tour that has created significant disruption in the professional golf landscape since its inception. The company also alleged that Nicklaus, now 85, was no longer mentally capable of managing his business affairs.

During the trial in West Palm Beach, Nicklaus’s legal team successfully argued that these statements were deliberately false and damaging to the golf icon’s sterling reputation. The jury determined that the defendants had spread misinformation that subjected Nicklaus to “ridicule, hatred, mistrust, distrust, or contempt.”

“These are the people who planted a story,” Nicklaus’s attorney, Eugene Stearns, told the court in his closing argument. “The story is a lie… What they wanted to create in the minds of the public is Jack Nicklaus is an old guy who sold out to the Saudis.”

While Nicklaus did acknowledge meeting with Saudi representatives in 2021, he maintained that he had twice rejected their offers — once verbally and once in writing. According to court documents, Nicklaus was offered “in excess of $100 million” for a role similar to that taken by Greg Norman, who became CEO of LIV Golf.

“I turned it down,” Nicklaus had stated previously. “I said, ‘Guys, I have to stay with the PGA Tour. I helped start the PGA Tour.'” The lawsuit emphasized that Nicklaus “had no interest in the offer and declined because he felt the PGA Tour was an important part of his legacy.”

The verdict represents a significant vindication for Nicklaus, who has been a central figure in golf for over six decades. After the ruling, Stearns told ESPN, “It’s always hard in a defamation case to prove damages to reputation, because in particular for a guy like Jack, it’s always such a good one. But I think what was important was the dispute that arose 3½ years ago when the company told the world that Jack was selling out the PGA Tour for the Saudi golf, when it was not true.”

The case highlights the ongoing tensions in professional golf created by LIV Golf’s emergence. The Saudi-funded tour has lured numerous PGA Tour stars with massive contracts, creating an unprecedented split in the professional game that only recently began moving toward reconciliation through framework agreement negotiations.

Nicklaus’s loyalty to the PGA Tour stems from his pivotal role in its formation. In the early 1970s, he was instrumental in transforming professional golf in America from the PGA of America to the modern PGA Tour structure, helping establish the organization that has dominated professional golf for half a century.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest golfers of all time, Nicklaus’s career includes 73 PGA Tour victories. His 18 major championships remain the highest total in golf history, three more than Tiger Woods, who has been stalled at 15 major titles since 2019. Nicklaus’s final major victory came at the 1986 Masters, which he won at age 46 — a remarkable 24 years after his first major championship.

The case also underscores the complex business relationships that often develop around sports legends. Nicklaus Companies manages the Golden Bear’s commercial enterprises, including course design, golf equipment, and apparel businesses that have continued to thrive long after his competitive playing career ended.

Neither Milstein nor Nicklaus Companies have issued public statements regarding the verdict or whether they plan to appeal the $50 million judgment.