Two more players remove names from lawsuit against PGA Tour; LIV Golf join
Abraham Ancer and Jason Kokrak have now dropped out of the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, but now LIV Golf has expressed an interest.
Two more plaintiffs have dropped out of the antitrust lawsuit filed against the PGA Tour, following Carlos Ortiz and Pat Perez in dropping legal action.
Abraham Ancer and Jason Kokrak have become the latest LIV Golf rebels to leave the lawsuit which now only has seven names left, having started with 11.
Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Bryson DeChambeau, Ian Poulter and Peter Uihlein are the names who remain and now, LIV Golf has officially declared itself an "'interested party".
Ortiz admitted that he didn't want any problems with the PGA Tour, while Perez also revealed that he didn't think through his decision to add his name to the list of plaintiffs.
The lawsuit stated at the start of August: "As the Tour's monopoly power has grown, it has employed its dominance to craft an arsenal of anticompetitive restraints to protect its long-standing monopoly.
"Now, threatened by the entry of LIV Golf, Inc and diametrically opposed to its founding mission, the Tour has ventured to harm the careers and livelihoods of any golfers, including Plaintiffs Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Bryson DeChambeau, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz, Ian Poulter, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak, and Peter Uihlein, who have the temerity to defy the Tour and play in tournaments sponsored by the new entrant.
"The Tour has done so in an intentional and relentless effort to crush nascent competition before it threatens the Tour's monopoly."
As reported by Golf Channel, LIV Golf has enhanced the lawsuit by claiming it has been unable to fully launch "in the face of super-competitive costs and artificially reduced access to (players)."
LIV Golf will request the court to award "punitive damages for the PGA Tour’s bad faith and egregious interference with LIV Golf’s contractual and perspective business relationships."
The controversial series, bankrolled by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, has already lost one key legal battle as Gooch, Swafford and Jones were denied a temporary restraining order to play in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
The actual trial for the antitrust case is set to begin in January 2024, however, this isn't set in stone. The actual verdict of his trial isn't expected for numerous years after it starts.
