Golf legend Jack Nicklaus has been awarded $US50 million ($A75m) after a successful defamation lawsuit against a company he founded.

The 85-year-old took Nicklaus Companies to court in Florida allegedly the company had spread false speculation that he would team up with LIV Golf in a $US750m deal.

Fiercely protective of his relationship with the PGA Tour, Nicklaus also accused the company of claiming he was mentally unfit to run his businesses.

A six-person panel ruled in favour of 18-time major champion Nicklaus against Nicklaus Companies.

“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,” Nicklaus’s attorney Eugene Stearns told ESPN .

“But I think what was important was the dispute that ar

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