SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - A lawsuit filed by a group of caddies against the United States PGA Tour for alleged mistreatment has been thrown out by a US District Court judge, The Golf Channel reported on Wednesday.

A group that swelled to 168 caddies filed the lawsuit last February in San Francisco, claiming they are walking billboards - forced to wear bibs with sponsor logos without any proceeds from sponsor contracts that were estimated at US$50 million (S$69.3 million) a year.

But in a Tuesday ruling, according to the network, judge Vince Chhabria found "the caddies' overall complaint about poor treatment by the tour has merit but this federal lawsuit about bibs does not".

"Caddies have been required to wear the bibs for decades, so caddies know when they enter the profession that wearing a bib during tournaments is part of the job," he wrote.

"For that reason, there is no merit to the caddies' contention that contracts somehow prevent the tour from requiring them to wear bibs."

In a statement, the PGA Tour said it was happy with the ruling.

"We are aware of the ruling made in our favour regarding the lawsuit filed last year by caddies and are pleased by the court's decision," the statement said. "We look forward to putting this matter behind us and moving forward in a positive direction with the caddies."