'11 Players Including Mickelson Joining LIV Golf File Antitrust Lawsuit Against PGA Tour'

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] The full-scale legal battle has begun.

Phil Mickelson (USA, photo) and other players who joined LIV Golf and were banned from participating have filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 4th (Korean time) that "11 players including Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau (USA) filed a lawsuit in the Northern District Court of California, claiming that the PGA violated antitrust laws." The complaint argued that "the PGA Tour's sanctions against LIV Golf players were intended to exclude a strong competitor from the market."

Taylor Gooch, Hudson Swafford (both USA), and Matt Jones (Australia), who secured eligibility for the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs (PO), the FedEx St. Jude Championship next week, separately filed an injunction lawsuit requesting the PGA Tour to suspend its sanctions to allow their participation in the tournament. Until now, men's golf has been divided between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour), but the launch of LIV Golf, led by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), has caused rapid changes.

LIV Golf, backed by astronomical oil money, attracted top PGA Tour players such as Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka (both USA). In response, the PGA Tour took a strong stance by imposing fines and bans on players joining LIV Golf. The PGA Tour cited a rule requiring prior approval to participate in tournaments hosted by other organizations. Jay Monahan, PGA Tour Commissioner, criticized, "LIV Golf is trying to buy the game of golf with money," calling it "an irrational threat to the game of golf."

LIV Golf pointed out that "the PGA Tour's prior approval rule is an abuse of its dominant position in the golf market and constitutes a violation of antitrust laws." The U.S. Department of Justice recently launched an antitrust investigation into the PGA Tour. Greg Norman (Australia), head of LIV Golf, is fully supporting the players' legal battle. However, it is known that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded in 1994 that the PGA Tour's prior approval rule did not violate antitrust laws.

Despite evaluations that it would be difficult for LIV Golf to establish itself as an official tour, it is gaining momentum. As tournaments continue, world stars have begun to be swayed by oil money, tempted by signing bonuses worth billions of won and prize money exceeding hundreds of millions of won. Transfer rumors have emerged about 'The Open Champion' Cameron Smith, former Masters champions Adam Scott (both Australia), and Hideki Matsuyama (Japan). LIV Golf will hold its 4th Invitational Series tournament over three days starting from the 2nd of next month in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.