The dispute between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is heading to court. Players sue US circuit

The almost intractable golf professional dispute between the US PGA Tour and the newly formed LIV Golf series will be resolved by the judicial authorities in the coming days. A group of eleven players have decided to file a lawsuit against the traditional American circuit in order to return for the PGA Tour’s peak season.

The three-tournament FedEx Cup playoff series kicks off in the US on Thursday, with the top 125 players in the season-long rankings advancing to the event. Among them are several names that qualified for the final leg of the PGA Tour circuit, only to join the much-criticized LIV Golf Series in the following months.

The PGA Tour subsequently decided to suspend these players indefinitely, but, in their view, quite unjustifiably. They have therefore decided to take the situation to court, which is expected to decide their fate in the coming days.

“The Tour’s actions serve no purpose other than to hurt players and prevent them from joining the first meaningful competitive threat the PGA Tour has faced in decades. The purpose of this lawsuit is to overturn the PGA Tour’s anti-competitive rules and practices that prevent these independent players from playing where and when they choose,” reads the lawsuit, which was cited by the website GolfExtra.

Players seeking preliminary injunctive relief would include Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Ian Poulter and Abraham Ancer, according to the Wall Street Journal. For example, DeChambeau said on Fox News that he is personally confident that the bans on players starting back on the PGA Tour will soon be lifted.

LIV Golf boss Greg Norman is of the same opinion and also considers the ban on players starting on the PGA Tour to be illegal. Tournaments in the rival “Rebel Saudi League”, as the LIV is known in America, are not even counted in the world rankings.

Also, some players have lost their position in next year’s Ryder Cup by participating in LIV Golf tournaments. Henrik Stenson, who dominated the third LIV tournament in Bedminster two weeks ago, was relieved of his captaincy for the European team just days before the tournament.

Now the judiciary is weighing in on the issues surrounding the participation and rights of golf professionals on the PGA Tour. It is possible that a similar situation will arise in the case of the Ryder Cup.

Source: PGA Tour, LIV Golf, GolfExtra