ANOTHER LIV Golf pro withdraws name from lawsuit against PGA Tour
Only two LIV Golf players remain on the lawsuit against the PGA Tour, one of which is Bryson DeChambeau.
Peter Uihlein has withdrawn his name from the LIV Golf lawsuit against the PGA Tour, which means just two players remain from the original 11 that were initially down on proceedings.
Uihlein's decision to step down means Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Jones are the remaining two LIV Golf players on the lawsuit.
LIV Golf is claiming damages for what it says is "the PGA Tour’s bad faith and egregious interference with LIV Golf’s contractual and perspective business relationships."
The LIV vs PGA lawsuit took a fresh twist recently, which we covered in more detail here.
Uihlein, who was pinched by 4 Aces GC captain Dustin Johnson for the LIV Golf League this season, becomes the ninth player to step away from the lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
The ongoing legal case is extremely complicated but in case you aren't in the know this is what has happened so far:
- On 3 August 2022 an antitrust lawsuit was filed against the PGA Tour, led by Phil Mickelson and 10 other professional golfers. The original complaint also asked a judge to issue a temporary restraining order, allowing LIV players to compete in the PGA's postseason.
- On 9 August 2022, a judge denied the LIV players' TRO request.
- On 29 September 2022, the PGA Tour countersued LIV Golf.
- LIV Golf added themselves as a plaintiff, prompting Mickelson, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter, Pat Perez and Jason Kokrak to withdraw from the litigation.
- Peter Uihlein has since followed them and withdrawn his name.
- That leaves just Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Jones as the only two players with names down on the lawsuit.
- In February, the judge allowed the PGA Tour to amend their complaint so they could directly sue LIV's majority backer, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and the aforementioned Al-Rumayyan.
DeChambeau claims he is still owed money by the PGA Tour from the Player Impact Program (PIP).
Last October, DeChambeau told reporters:
The latest news is that the war of attrition has now spilled over into a fourth U.S. court owing to a dispute with McKenna Advisors, a Virginia-based advisory and investment firm that reportedly serves as an "outside consultant to LIV", per the court docs.
Related: LIV player upset with changes to U.S. Open exemption
Per Rex Hoggard, who has scoured the filings for Golf Channel, the latest developments include:
- Attorneys for McKenna have filed a motion to reject the PGA Tour's request for discovery, claiming the established circuit are attempting to go on a "fishing expedition". Unsurprisingly, the PGA opposed that motion, citing McKenna's alleged meetings with LIV mastermind Yasir Al-Rummayyan. The PGA Tour attorneys also alleged McKenna helped recruit players to the breakaway tour. This dispute is taking place in a U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The PGA Tour have also filed a motion to move the dispute back to the Northern District of California.
- LIV Golf attorneys have previously accused the PGA Tour of hiring a PR firm, Clout Public Affairs, of funding the 9/11 families who have been heavily protesting their events. There was a particularly heavy presence of protesters at the $50m team championship at Trump National Doral last October. LIV attorneys have stated that Clout continues to withhold discovery.
- LIV Golf have requested discovery from European tour officials. This dispute is ongoing.
These latest developments follow a request by the three LIV players involved in the antitrust litigation to bifurcate the original case from the PGA Tour's counterclaim. This was denied, but as as result the original trial date has been moved back even further.
The judge overseeing the case warned it could be two years before any trial. "I want you to know that," Beth Labson Freeman told attorneys in a case management hearing.
