What happens now that Phil Mickelson and LIV’s golfers are suing the PGA?
It looks like things are about to get even uglier between the PGA and LIV with Mickelson leading a group of those exiled into a legal battle against the tour.
The ongoing war between the PGA and the golfing world’s newest tour, the LIV, continues to get uglier. With some of the Saudi backed tour’s players indicating they intend to take legal action; it would appear that ‘it’s about to go down.’
Phil Mickleson leads group of LIV players against PGA
Though it probably comes as no surprise to many, the fight between the PGA and LIV has now gone to the level of litigation. With reports indicating that Phil Mickelson, along with several other LIV players - 10 to be price - have now filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, it’s crystal clear that the group do not intend to take their banishment lying down. In an effort to overturn the Tour’s decision to bar them from playing in its events, the group who to be eligible to play in next week’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, which they are petitioning to play in.
The development of course, is the latest following the departure of several golf stars from the PGA back in June. The players in question then signed for the LIV and chaos ensued. The PGA then took the stance of suspending them from the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which they would have qualified for despite not playing on the tour for the last two months. Where Mickelson specifically is concerned, however, there are some added layers to the story. According to the Wall Street Journal, following his provocative comments about Saudi Arabian government and the LIV Golf League in February, the Tour allegedly took the decision to suspend him in March.
What are the details of the LIV group’s lawsuit against the PGA?
Where the details of the lawsuit itself are concerned, the aforementioned WSJ piece does address one interesting things and that’s Mickelson’s status on the Tour. Indeed, the nature of his relationship with the Tour’s management has been the subject of intense speculation and intrigue after he made comments about the kingdom’s record on human rights - something that was published this year. To that end, the lawsuit also adds that Mickelson was suspended by the PGA Tour back in March for allegedly recruiting players to play for LIV, among other reasons, and that his appeal was denied. When he applied for reinstatement in June, the suit says, the Tour denied it based on his participation in the first LIV event that month outside London. Further to that, it states that he was forbidden from applying for reinstatement until March 2023, which was extended until March 2024 after he played the second LIV event. In case you’re wondering LIV Golf’s next event is set to be staged in Boston at the start of September, following the FedEx Cup playoffs.