The battle between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour has reached the first of what will surely be many courtrooms.
U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman heard arguments from attorneys representing both the PGA Tour and a consortium of eleven players affiliated with LIV on Tuesday afternoon. Three LIV players — Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones — sought a temporary restraining order that would have allowed them to compete in this week’s tournament, the first FedEx Cup playoff event.
However, after a two-hour hearing, Judge Freeman ruled that the players had not proved they would suffer “irreparable harm” if they were not allowed to play. She also pointed out that the players were fully aware of the potential ramifications of joining LIV when they did so earlier this summer, and that they earned a significant amount of revenue as a result of their decision to play on the LIV tour. Accordingly, LIV players will not be on the field this week or the rest of the PGA Tour playoffs.
The players’ temporary restraining order was just part of a much larger lawsuit that LIV Players, led by Phil Mickelson, brought against the Tour on antitrust grounds. That lawsuit alleges that the PGA Tour engaged in anticompetitive conduct and forced other entities in the golf world — the four majors, various suppliers, courses — to shun LIV and its players. The Tour responded by protecting the interests of its members – the players – by keeping walls high against players from rival tours who sought, in the oft-repeated words of the Tour, “to have their cake and eat it too.”
While Tuesday’s hearing focused primarily on the narrow question of the three players’ eligibility to play in the Tour playoffs — an event they had already qualified for before leaving for LIV — both the LIV players’ lawyers and the Tour’s attorneys reviewed the arguments that will be played out in the coming months.
Judge Freeman appeared to challenge the breadth of PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan’s authority to suspend and otherwise control the fortunes of Tour players. On the other hand, it raised serious doubts about the level of antitrust violations here, given how successful LIV has been in attracting and retaining some of the biggest names in the sport. Five of the Tour’s top 10 most popular players, according to the Tour’s own metrics, have now joined forces with LIV.
The story continues
Some important revelations also emerged during the hearing, the most significant of which concerns how at least some LIV players are paid. According to the players’ own attorney, at least some LIV players have their tournament winnings deducted from their upfront payment — which actually works as an advance rather than an actual, discrete payment. So under this arrangement, a player who hypothetically received $10 million to play for LIV would have to earn $10 million in tournament purses before earning any additional money from the LIV tour. This is a significant and substantial difference from how PGA Tour players are paid.
FedEx St. Jude Classic, the first of three FedEx Cup playoffs, begins Thursday. The next LIV Golf event is scheduled for early September in Boston.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Hudson Swafford is one of three LIV golfers looking to compete in this week’s FedEx Cup playoffs. (Joe Maher/LIV Golf/Getty Images)
_____
Contact Jay Busbee at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @jaybusbee.
Add Comment