LIV Golf had an open date on its otherwise busy October schedule, but that didn’t mean the upstart tour was out of the news last week. Far from it.
The PGA Tour, which has been feuding with LIV Golf for the game’s top talent, fired another legal salvo at the first-year tour but with a different target: the money men behind the attempted takeover of the professional game.
The PGA Tour filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York against the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which has seeded LIV Golf, and Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, who manages the estimated $500 billion fund, according to published reports
The motion is under seal and shielded from the public, the reports said.
According to one legal expert who spoke with Global Golf Post, the strategy is to seek discovery when witnesses reside outside of the U.S.
The PGA Tour and LIV Golf have been locked in a legal fight since Aug. 3, when 11 LIV players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in federal court in California. Three of the 11 sought a temporary restraining order, which was denied, to compete in the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the tour’s first playoff event. Three weeks later, the PGA Tour announced sweeping changes designed to get the top players competing against one another more often and dramatically increase purses.
Last month, the PGA Tour answered LIV Golf’s amended complaint in federal court in California by countersuing the rival tour, alleging harm from LIV’s actions.
Summary judgment has been set for July 23, 2023, with a trial slated for Jan. 8, 2024.
LIV Golf completes its inaugural season this week in the LIV Golf Miami Team Championship at Trump National Doral Golf Club. READ MORE
Of all the hyperbole surrounding the rise of LIV Golf, one comment made last week could stand out among the most outrageous. Majed Al Sorour, the CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation and Golf Saudi, said in an interview with The New Yorker: “For now, the majors are siding with the (PGA) Tour, and I don’t know why. If the majors decide not to have our players play? I will celebrate. I will create my own majors for my players.” He sought to walk back those comments, claiming in a statement posted Thursday to Golf Saudi’s Twitter account that The New Yorker story “wrongfully expressed and misrepresented my views.” READ MORE
LIV Golf is looking to produce a documentary series featuring its top players, according to a report by Bloomberg. The series would be modeled on the Netflix series “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” The upstart tour, which is attempting to land a network TV deal for 2023, would shop any potential show to a streaming service or TV network, the report said. Netflix also is currently working on a similar show about the PGA Tour. READ MORE
Donald Trump will compete in the pro-am this week before the LIV Golf Miami Team Championship, which will be played at his Trump National Doral Golf Club, according to a report in The Palm Beach Post newspaper in Florida. The former president will play 18 holes with two pros: one on the front side and the other on the back. The pros in Trump’s group will be determined Wednesday, the report said. The pro-am is not open to the public. Play in LIV Golf’s season finale, which will offer a $50 million prize fund, the richest in golf, begins Thursday. In late July, Trump teed it up with Americans Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau in the pro-am before the LIV Golf event at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey. READ MORE
Four longtime PGA Tour stops – Phoenix, Hilton Head, Charlotte and Hartford – were promoted to “elevated” status, the tour announced Oct. 19.
The WM Phoenix Open, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship and Travelers Championship will feature $20 million purses and the top players on tour as part of the sweeping changes announced in August to counter the rise of LIV Golf.
The PGA Tour has secured commitments from its top players that they will compete in at least 17 tournaments in 2023: the four major championships (Masters, PGA, U.S. Open and Open Championship), the Players, the three invitationals (Genesis, Arnold Palmer and Memorial), Sentry Tournament of Champions, WGC Match Play and the four recently elevated events. They also agreed to make three other starts, raising their commitment to 20 tournaments. READ MORE
TAP-INS
Eight percent of golf courses in the U.S. – 1,119, or roughly 1 in every 8 – were affected by Hurricane Ian, according to a report by the National Golf Foundation. The storm came ashore Sept. 28 with 150-mph winds in southwest Florida, churning across the peninsula before entering the Atlantic and making landfall again in South Carolina, resulting in more than 100 deaths. READ MORE
The LPGA Tour led all women’s sports leagues in brand deals in 2022, according to a study released this month by SponsorUnited, a marketing and advertising company. The LPGA registered 940 brand deals, a 30-percent increase from last year as partnerships increased 20 percent year-over-year in all women’s sports. The LPGA’s Lexi Thompson owns 21 brand deals and is the fourth-most endorsed female athlete, behind soccer’s Alex Morgan and tennis’ Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. READ MORE
Charles Barkley, who had been a candidate to join LIV Golf’s broadcast team, agreed to a 10-year deal to remain with TNT on its “Inside the NBA” show that will pay him more than $100 million, the New York Post reported. Barkley had been under contract with TNT through the 2024-25 season. READ MORE
Los Angeles Country Club’s North Course, the site of next year’s U.S. Open, will host two more national championships in the coming years, the USGA announced. The 2032 U.S. Women’s Open and the 2039 U.S. Open will be held at LACC. The North Course, a 1921 design by George C. Thomas, hosted the inaugural Los Angeles Open in 1926. READ MORE
Wilshire Country Club again will be the site of an LPGA tournament in Los Angeles in 2023, but it won’t be the L.A. Open. The club in the historic Hancock Park neighborhood, will host the inaugural $3 million J.M. Eagle L.A. Championship on April 27-30, the tour said in announcing a multiyear deal. A new site was expected to be revealed soon for the L.A. Open, which had been played since its 2018 launch at Wilshire. READ MORE
Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, will host three national amateur championships in the next two decades, the USGA announced. The club will be the site of the 2027 U.S. Girls’ Junior, the 2033 U.S. Senior Amateur and the 2039 U.S. Women’s Amateur. Canterbury, a 1922 Herbert Strong design, also hosted the 1940 U.S. Open (won by Lawson Little), the 1946 U.S. Open (Lloyd Mangrum) and the 1973 PGA Championship (Jack Nicklaus). READ MORE
Cameron Young, who failed to win but posted five runner-up tour finishes and earned a rookie-record $6.52 million last season en route to a Presidents Cup spot, was named the PGA Tour’s 2021-22 Rookie of the Year in voting by his fellow players. READ MORE
Staff and Wire Reports