LIV Golf's legal battle with PGA Tour takes FRESH twist!
LIV Golf's legal battle with the PGA Tour has taken a fresh twist.
The legal battle between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf continues very slowly.
But this week there was a flurry of activity with a number of motions being filed.
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.
The legal case, of course, 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. Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein remain involved.
- This 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.
We are now in the discovery process, which is expected to last several months.
So much so, the judge vacated the original trial date of 11 January 2024. So when will the trial start? Next May, apparently.
