Peter Uihlein has withdrawn from the LIV Golf lawsuit against the PGA Tour, leaving just Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Jones from the original 11 players with their names on proceedings.
Last August Uihlein joined the likes of Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Talor Gooch, Pat Perez and Jason Kokrak in challenging the suspension handed out by the PGA Tour for them joining LIV.
Players have gradually withdrawn from the legal action, with Uihlein the ninth to step away from the lawsuit after he was granted a voluntary dismissal by a court in San Jose on Thursday.
It’s now just American DeChambeau and Australian Jones who remain as players with their names attached to the lawsuit, with LIV Golf claiming damages for what it says is “the PGA Tour’s bad faith and egregious interference with LIV Golf’s contractual and perspective business relationships.”
The rest of the players backed out when LIV Golf as an organisation became involved in the lawsuit, but DeChambeau has previously claimed it’s a more personal stance for him.
The 2020 US Open champion says the PGA Tour still owes him money from the Player Impact Program (PIP) and is using the lawsuit to get the cash he says they have no right to withhold.
“One of the reasons I’m in the lawsuit is because they haven’t paid me my second half of the PIP money,” DeChambeau said in October last year. “The money isn’t the significant part, it’s more the principle.
“To me that’s childish and it just shows where they stand emotionally. I respect it and I understand it, but when you complete something and you provided entertainment for them last year and I completed that…that’s the reason why I’m in the lawsuit.”
Legal debates are still taking place but with now players continuing to drop out it’s becoming more of a battle between the two businesses and their leaders than it is with anything sporting happening on the course.
Whether Jones or DeChambeau will remain involved in the lawsuit as the only two left in remains to be seen.
