PGA Tour responds with 32 pages to LIV Golf players’ lawsuit
PGA Tour responds with 32 pages to LIV Golf players’ lawsuit, The PGA Tour filed its response to the lawsuit that was filed last week by 11 LIV Golf players. specifically in regard to the temporary restraining order sought by three players who want to compete in the FedEx Cup playoffs starting this week in Memphis.
11 LIV Golf players sued the PGA Tour in the previous week. Three of them seek entry into the Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs. The Tour delivered to the U.S. District Court of Northern California a 32-page response. It included a separate seven-page example of mischaracterizations and mistruths presented by the LIV players.
The court will hear a complaint filed on behalf of suspended PGA Tour players Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, and Matt Jones. A mandatory injunction is sought against the PGA Tour’s suspension of these players from the playoffs. Those three want to compete in the FedEx Cup Playoffs that begin with FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. Each of those players would have qualified for the playoffs based on points if they were not suspended.
The Tour’s response indicates that 98 percent of its net profits are given to players, tournaments, and charities. The Tour said that allowing suspended LIV golfers to compete for FedEx Cup Playoff purses is a way to create financial harm to players committed to the Tour.
The Tour’s response and the court hearing involve the topic of allowing the three players into the FedEx Cup Playoffs. They have no intention of addressing the larger issue of Tour suspensions of LIV Golf players as a whole. Any resolution, in that case, is expected to take months or even years. Tuesday’s hearing will focus on the three players. The 3 players will be irreparably harmed if they do not compete in the playoffs. This indicates that they should be allowed to play because any lost income from the playoffs would be irretrievably lost.
“The players’ participation in the LIV league is in violation of the PGA Tour’s Handbook and Tournament Regulations,’’ said Elliott Peters of Keker, Van Nest & Peters, the law firm representing the Tour. “For enormous sums of cash supplied by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Plaintiffs willfully breached their agreements with the PGA Tour. The players’ purported harm is entirely self-induced. We will litigate this case vigorously to preserve the reputation of the PGA Tour and protect the benefits it offers to players.’’
LIV Golf received the backing of the Public Investment Fund. Saudi’s sovereign wealth fund went on to invest more than $1 billion in launching and signing players. So far three events have been played with $25 million purses. Five more are scheduled for this year.
Next year, LIV is set to transition to a League format with 14 tournaments. The League includes 48 players on 12 four-man teams. These teams are set to remain together all season.
Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau are among 11 players to join LIV Golf in suing the PGA Tour for antitrust violations. This includes the three who are seeking the injunction.