Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via Getty Images
Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau are among 11 LIV Golf Circuit golfers reported to have filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour on Wednesday, according to Louise Radnofsky and Andrew Beaton of Wall Street Journal.
Taylor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Ian Poulter, Abraham Unser, Carlos Ortiz, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak and Peter Uhlein were the other golfers attached to the case.
Golfers on the Saudi-backed circuit are challenging the PGA Tour’s decision to suspend them from participating in LIV events.
“Conducting the Tour serves no other purpose than to harm players and prevent the entry of the first significant competitive threat the Tour has faced in decades,” the proposal said.
As part of the lawsuit, Gooch, Swafford and Jones are seeking a temporary restraining order that would allow them to play in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs. They each accumulated enough points to qualify for the 125-player field before joining LIV, but the PGA Tour said they could not compete.
The PGA Tour will allow players outside the top 125 in the rankings to compete and take the place of those affiliated with LIV.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan responded to the lawsuit:
Rex Hoggard @RexHoggardGC
Memo from PGA Tour commissioner to players in response to antitrust lawsuit filed Wednesday in California. pic.twitter.com/T0UR9FMoud
Radnofsky and Beaton noted that the new lawsuit also sheds some light on Mickelson’s status on the PGA Tour. Lefty is likely the face of LIV Golf at this point and, according to the lawsuit, was suspended in March for allegedly recruiting players. The PGA Tour denied his request for reinstatement and said he could not reapply until March 2024 after playing in multiple LIV events.
This is not the only legal issue facing the PGA Tour, as Radnofsky and Beaton previously announced that the Department of Justice is investigating him for anti-competitive conduct. However, the PGA Tour has received some bipartisan support from lawmakers on Capitol Hill given LIV’s financial backers.
“We welcome good, healthy competition,” Monahan said. “LIV Saudi Golf League is not that. It is an irrational threat; one that doesn’t care about ROI or true game growth.
“If it’s an arms race and if the only weapons here are dollar bills, the PGA Tour can’t compete. The PGA Tour, an American institution, cannot compete with a foreign monarchy spending billions of dollars trying to buy the game of golf.”
This comes after LIV Golf announced it will expand its schedule to 14 tournaments for $405 million in purses next year (h/t ESPN Mark Schlabach).
It debuted this year with eight tournaments and $255 million in purses.
LIV Golf has come under fire for its financial support from the Saudi Arabian government, which has been accused of trying to whitewash its sport’s human rights abuses.
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