An antitrust lawsuit to determine whether LIV Golf defectors should be allowed to play on the PGA Tour may not be resolved until 2024 after a delay to proceedings.
Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and Ian Poulter were among the 11 banned players named in the suit, which was announced earlier in August. A summary judgement will take place on July 23, 2023, but it's understood the trial hearing won't occur until January 8, 2024.
Carlos Ortiz and one other unnamed golfer from the original 11 have withdrawn from the antitrust suit. Ortiz's manager previously announced his client "does not want to be involved in any legal battles," while attorneys indicated only nine players are now due to provide discovery material in the case.
It was confirmed earlier in August that three of the claimants—Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones and Talor Gooch—had failed in their attempts to secure temporary restraining orders against their bans. The trio had hoped to be cleared so that they could feature in the FedEx Cup Play-Offs, but U.S. district judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled to uphold their bans.
Freeman set both the July 2023 summary judgement and January 2024 trial dates. It's understood the PGA Tour will likely attempt to have the lawsuit thrown out at the former.
Those LIV defectors banned from competing on the PGA circuit had hoped a resolution by July 2023 may allow them to feature in next year's FedEx Cup Play-Offs, which begin the following month. However, that no longer seems plausible.
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The PGA announced prior to the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational Series event that any players who featured in the breakaway competition would be subject to sanctions. Some players, including former world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, resigned from the PGA Tour before debuting in the Saudi-backed series.
LIV Golf is offering huge prize purses of at least $25million (£21m) at each of its events, while certain stars were lured with huge 'signing-on' bonuses. It's believed Johnson was paid around £100m to defect, while Mickelson's pay-off is understood to be closer to £165m.
A leaked LIV Golf contract seen by the Wall Street Journal showed players are required to recruit active players as part of their agreement. Rebel players must also wear LIV-branded clothing when competing elsewhere, as Patrick Reed did at the 150th Open in July.
