Both Bryson DeChambeau and Matt Jones have removed their names from the lawsuit between LIV Golf and PGA Tour, meaning all 11 players are now not involved in the legal battle between the sport’s two factions.
After Peter Uihlein took his name off the lawsuit last week, the final two remaining players have decided to follow suit, with DeChambeau saying “it’s not my fight” while Australian Jones gave no reason for pulling out.
What started out as 11 players suing the PGA Tour after being suspended for joining Greg Norman’s Saudi Arabian-backed new tour is now purely a business-versus-business affair.
DeChambeau’s agent Brett Falkoff confirmed the news to Golfweek in a text message, saying the former US Open champion is focusing on his LIV Golf team the Crushers so is stepping away from the legal action.
“Bryson has made the decision to remove himself from the ongoing litigation between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour,” Falkoff told Golfweek.
“Bryson wants to solely focus on competing at the highest level week in and week out. He will continue to support the growth of golf and its expansion on a global scale, contributing both on and off the course as a positive influence on the game.”
As DeChambeau tees it up at the latest LIV Golf League event in Tulsa this week, he now says that it is not his fight, despite previously saying he remained in the lawsuit on principle over the way the PGA Tour treated him personally.
“I have a responsibility to grow the Crushers, grow my team, and I really need to focus on golf for the most part,” added DeChambeau.
“It has been a bit of a focus of mine, but it has gotten to a point where it’s going to happen, no matter what. They’ll resolve it, it’ll be figured out one way or the other, and it’s not my fight. That’s my thought on it.”
Phil Mickelson and 10 other golfers led the original lawsuit against the PGA Tour on grounds of them attempting to monopolise the spot and restrict competition, before LIV Golf and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) joined as a plaintiff.
DeChambeau claimed he was wrongly denied around $1.75m from the Player Impact Program bonus and was suing the PGA as a matter of principle, but has no decided, like the rest of the players, to let the two organisations fight it out between them.
