Phil Mickelson is considering taking his name off the LIV defectors’ lawsuit against PGA Tour as he feels it is ‘not necessary for him to be involved’ because the rebel series will ‘accomplish’ his goal
- Eleven LIV Golf players filed the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in August
- Carlos Ortiz, Abraham Ancer, Pat Perez and Jason Kokrak have since withdrawn
- Phil Mickelson could be the latest defector to remove his name from the lawsuit
- The six-time major champion feels it’s no longer ‘necessary’ to be attached to it
Phil Mickelson is considering removing his name from the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour as he feels it’s no longer ‘necessary’ to be attached.
The six-time major champion has yet to decide whether he will stick with it or remove his name.
Speaking to reporters at Rich Harvest Farms ahead of this weekend’s LIV Golf Invitational Chicago, Mickelson expressed his confidence in the suit now that the LIV Golf entity has joined its players in it.
‘Now that LIV is involved, it’s not necessary for me to be involved,’ Mickelson said. I currently still am. I don’t know what I’m going to do, really.
‘The only reason for me to stay in is (monetary) damages, which I don’t really want or need anything. I do think it’s important that the players have the right to play when and where they want, when and where they qualify for. And now that LIV is a part of it, that will be accomplished if and when they win.’
Eleven members of LIV Golf originally came together to bring the suit against the PGA Tour in August. They sought to challenge their suspension from the PGA Tour for participating in the first LIV event without the tour’s consent.
Phil Mickelson is considering removing his name from the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour
Since then, Jason Kokrak, Pat Perez and Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz and Abraham Ancer dropped out of the lawsuit.
If Mickelson also drops out, it would leave Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Peter Uihlein, Matt Jones of Australia and England’s Ian Poulter as the remaining plaintiffs, along with LIV Golf itself.
‘Banning Plaintiffs and other top professional golfers from its own events degrades the Tour’s strength of field and diminishes the quality of the product that it offers to golf fans by depriving them from seeing many top golfers participate in Tour events,’ the lawsuit argues.
Carlos Ortiz (left) and Abraham Ancer (right) are two of the four players to withdraw their names from the lawsuit against the PGA Tour, along with Pat Perez and Jason Kokrak
Bryson DeChambeau (left) and Talor Gooch (right) remain named as plaintiffs in the suit
‘The only conceivable benefit to the Tour from degrading its own product in this manner is the destruction of competition. Indeed, the Tour has conceded its nakedly anticompetitive purpose in attacking and injuring the players.’
Mickelson is no longer interested in returning to the PGA Tour, saying at the previous LIV event in the Boston area that he has ‘moved on’ and trying to build LIV into a world-class golf league.
The antitrust lawsuit was originally filed by 11 players on August 3, but an amended complaint was filed Friday afternoon in the US District Court in Northern California on August 27 to include LIV Golf.
Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf, has said the league would fully support the players in any legal action they pursued.
Greg Norman said LIV Golf would fully support the players in any legal action they pursued
In the amended complaint, LIV Golf argues that without a favorable ruling, its ‘ability to maintain a meaningful competitive presence in the markets will be destroyed.’
LIV Golf alleges the PGA Tour’s restraints forced it to raise its costs to sign players and kept it from recruiting others who fear the threat of being punished. It also claims the tour forced LIV Golf to delay its launch for 2022 and have a smaller schedule in its first year.
US District Judge Beth Labson Freeman set a summary judgment hearing for July 23, 2023, and a tentative trial date for January 8, 2024.
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