United States
United Kingdom
Summary
- The PGA wants the federal court to decline a TRO request made by three players
- The tour’s motion argues that the injunction request has no legal basis
- The PGA has accused the three golfers of knowingly breaching the rules and fabricating an emergency
The PGA Tour has maintained its stance against three players who are seeking a temporary restraining order to allow them to take part in the golf’s FedEx Cup.
The tour this week filed a motion in the US District Court for the Northern District of California arguing that Matt Jones, Hudson Swafford and Talor Gooch have no legal grounds for asking for a mandatory injunction to join the tour’s championship events.
Golfers Knowingly Breached Rules
The PGA Tour’s legal team said the trio had made a conscious decision to join competing golf league LIV Golf despite knowing they would violate tour regulations and would get suspended as a result. Allowing them to play in the season-ending FedEx Cup Playoffs would cause harm to the members of the tour who follow the rules, the motion further stated.
Jones, Hudson, and Swafford were among 11 LIV golfers who last week filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour after they were suspended by the league for participating in LIV events. Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau were also part of the group.
The lawsuit stated that not being able to play in the FedEx Cup would cause substantial and irreparable harm to the three golfers, and therefore a temporary restraining order is needed to allow them to join.
In its response, the PGA Tour questioned why it took nearly two months for the three players to seek an injunction from the court, accusing them of “fabricating an emergency“.
The tour maintained that the players’ suspension was foreseeable when they chose to breach tour regulations after accepting millions from LIV to join the league. The tour stated that four other plaintiffs in the antitrust suit have also been disqualified from the FedEx Cup playoffs under similar circumstances but have not asked for extraordinary relief from the court because they knew there’s no emergency or irreparable harm.
Court To Decide On Temporary Restraining Order
The PGA Tour has asked the court to decline the players’ injunction request, saying it’s them who created the problem and must take responsibility for their actions.
Jones, Hudson, and Swafford were part of the top 125 players eligible to compete in the FedEx Playoffs. Jones and Swafford are 65th and 67th respectively in the standings, while Gooch is 20th. The three players’ motion for a temporary restraining order will be heard on August 9, in San Jose, California.
