Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Ian Poulter are among 11 LIV Golf Invitational Series players filing a lawsuit against PGA Tour
Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, and Ian Poulter are among 11: Eleven LIV Golf players, including Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, and Bryson DeChambeau, have launched a lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
The FedEx Cup play-offs get underway next Monday with a temporary restraining order being sought by Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, and Matt Jones.
The complaint further alleges on March 22 that Mickelson was given a two-month suspension from LIV Golf and has now had that suspension extended to March 31, 2024, as a result of participating in the LIV events in London and Portland.
Four more PGA Tour players have joined Abraham Ancer in declaring that the PGA Tour is attempting to harm their careers: Carlos Ortiz, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak, and Peter Uihlein.
Statement
As stated in the suit’s statement, “The Tour’s action serves no purpose other than to cause harm to players and deny admittance to a new, substantial competitive challenge to the Tour for decades.”
There are anti-competitive policies and procedures on the PGA Tour that hinder independent-contractor golfers from playing whenever they want and wherever they want.
According to commissioner Jay Monahan, the 11 players had “walked away from the Tour” and were now “Saudi Golf League employees.”
You should feel secure in our legal position because we have been ready to defend our membership and resist this latest attempt to disrupt our Tour, Monahan said.
Using lawyers, they’re trying to push their way into competition with our members who are in good standing while the Saudi Golf League is on hiatus. It’s an attempt to utilize the Tour platform to promote themselves and take advantage of your hard work.
In the interests of our organization, our athletes, our partners, and our fans, we cannot allow re-entry into our events.” Regardless of what they claim, we intend to state our point clearly and firmly in the lawsuit they’ve filed.
On the basis that we collaborate for the welfare of the company, and subsequently you reap the benefits, this is your Tour.” Your former colleagues have overlooked an essential part of that equation, it appears to me.”
Three DP World Tour members were granted a temporary stay of their suspensions from the Scottish Open in July pending the outcome of their substantive appeals, with Poulter being one of them.
A fine of £100,000 was also imposed on the players for participating in the first LIV Golf event in June after they were denied the needed releases.
PGA
Davis Love, a former Ryder Cup captain, suggested PGA Tour players may use the “nuclear option” of boycotting events if the LIV rebels win their appeals.
“The players are enough fed up with it,” Love said in a press conference ahead of the Wyndham Championship if the LIV guys sue and are allowed to play on the PGA Tour.
It’s clear to us that PGA Tour rules are being enforced by the commissioner, and we don’t want those players to be able to come to our tournaments and pick and choose which ones they want to play in.
“We have the upper hand.” “No, we support the rules,” we tell the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the government in Washington. Those players aren’t welcome on our team. Courts don’t matter to us.
As a last resort, “If they have to play in our events, we’ll refuse to participate.””
Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Patrick Reed will not be able to play for the United States in September’s Presidents Cup if they are suspended by the PGA Tour.
It’s your decision and you do what’s good for you, but understand the ramifications,” Love added to the athletes he’s spoken to who’ve gone or are considering going.
As much as I tried, I’m not sure I came off as my father. I didn’t make a fuss over it. You have the option of becoming Tiger Woods or being expelled from the sport, as I stated earlier.
You agreed to these restrictions, though, knowing the consequences. I had to make a decision by Friday or I would miss out on playing this week. I won’t be able to vote or receive my pension unless I play in 15 tournaments. You have a set of guidelines to follow.
It’s a huge rule, and you’re going to be punished for breaking it. I said so.”
That is why Jay (Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner) is saying it for a year now: “And some of them were aware of that, some of them said it’s not going to happen and others of them just flat-out lied,” he said.
Phil Mickelson’s departure from the LIV team was a mistake, Love said, but he added, “I don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out,” implying that “the players are becoming more and more unified against it.”