Phil is excited about joining the golf tour. The time has come.
The antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour was filed by Phil Mickelson and nine other golf players.
Three of those golfers are trying to get a restraining order from a federal judge that would allow them to play in the FedEx Cup playoffs.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern California and requested that the players be allowed to play in the FedEx Cup playoffs. There is a hearing to consider the players' motion for a temporary restraining order.
The punishment that would accrue to these players from not being able to play in the FedEx Cup Playoffs is substantial and irreparable, and a temporary restraining order is needed to prevent the irreparable harm that would occur were they not to be able to participate.
A copy of the antitrust lawsuit was obtained by the sports network.
According to two player managers, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the PGA Tour's handling of its players and whether it has engaged in anticompetitive behavior.
The lawsuit states that the Tour has threatened lifetime bans on players who play in a single event. In order to back up the threats, it has imposed unprecedented suspensions on players that threaten irreparable harm to the players and their ability to pursue their profession. It is threatening sponsors, vendors, and agents to force players to stop playing in golf events. The European Tour has been boycotted by groups to deny LIV Golf access to their members.
The tour will defend members who abide by the regulations written by and for the players, according to a memo sent to players Wednesday.
"We have been preparing to protect our membership and contest this latest attempt to disrupt our Tour, and you should be confident in the legal merits of our position," said the memo, which was obtained by the sports website. The suspended players are now working for the Saudi Golf League and want to return to the tour. With the Saudi Golf League on hiatus, they are trying to force their way into competition by using lawyers.
It is an attempt to use the TOUR platform to promote themselves and to freeride on your efforts. Our organization, our players, our partners and our fans are at risk of being compromised by allowing reentering into our events. We intend to make our case clear and vigorous because the lawsuit they have filed expects us to believe the opposite.
According to the lawsuit filed by the LIV Golf members, the players who played in the first three tournaments are facing almost two years of suspension from the tour.
According to the lawsuit, Lefty was suspended for two months by the PGA Tour for trying to recruit players to LIV Golf. The appeal committee upheld the suspension. He had played in the first LIV Golf event in London and was not allowed to return to work. The extension was done by a year. When he was in Portland, it was extended.
According to the lawsuit, DeChambeau was reprimanded by the tour for talking to other tour members about the positive experiences he had with LIV Golf.
The three players who filed suit to compete in the FedEx Cup playoffs were suspended from the PGA Tour after they competed in golf tournaments. Gooch is ranked 20th, Swafford is 63rd, and Jones is 92nd. The top 125 players in points are eligible for the playoffs.
The players' attorneys argued in their motion that prohibiting them from competing in the FedEx Cup playoffs would restrict them from gaining official world golf ranking points that would allow them to get exemption into the four major championship next season.
The lawsuit says that the Tour's conduct serves no purpose other than to cause harm to players. The quality of the product that the Tour offers to golf fans is degraded by banning top professional golfers from its own events. The Tour can't benefit from degrading its own product in this way. The Tour has conceded that it has an anticompetitive purpose.
The FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship each have purses of over $10 million. The winner of the Tour Championship will get $17.5 million in prize money.
There are more than two dozen players who have been suspended by the PGA Tour for competing in LIV events. The players have resigned from the tour.
According to the lawsuit, the major championship governing bodies have been pressured by the PGA Tour. Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley threatened to disinvite players from The Masters if they joined LIV Golf, and he personally instructed a number of participants in the Masters not to play in the LIV Golf invitational series.
Some of the suspended players have been granted exemptions into some of the majors. An exemption at the U.S. Open is one of the career exemptions that Lefty has. The 2020 U.S. Open is one of the events that DeChambeau is exempt from until at least 2030.
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