Gary Player wins $5m lawsuit… against his own SON!

Legendary South African golfer Gary Player is to receive $5million and the rights to both his name and likeness back from a company operated by his son Marc.

As first reported by the Associated Press court documents filed in Florida that show the 84-year-old golfer – one of only five players to have completed the career grand slam – reached a settlement with the South Carolina-based Gary Player Group last month as the dispute was being arbitrated.

Marc Player, 60, operates the group. He is one of Player’s six children and his eldest son.

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No details have been provided for the cause of the dispute. 

Gary Player’s lawyer, Stuart Singer, would only say that there was a “contractual dispute” and that the $5m was for royalties due to the nine-time major champion. It is believed that they are for the period from 2014 to 2018.

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A court document explaining the settlement, which was agreed in May and completed two days ago, reads: “Based on the lawful termination of that Agreement, and this stipulation, all such Ownership Rights as definite in the 2013 Agreement revert back to Player’s sole and exclusive ownership, so that GPG no longer has any right to use the Player name, likeness, image, or any of the other Ownership Rights as defined in the 2013 Agreement.”

Player’s net worth has been estimated at between $200m and $250m.