The PGA Tour and LIV Golf are in a heavyweight title fight for the future of professional golf, and the Justice Department is watching closely ringside.
In a Monday report from Wall Street Journal, the PGA Tour confirmed the Department of Justice is investigating whether the Tour engaged in anticompetitive behavior against the Greg Norman-led and Saudi Arabia-funded LIV Golf Invitational Series. The DOJ declined comment while a spokesman for the Tour was confident, according to the Journal.
The upstart circuit has long been criticized as another way for the Saudi government to sportswash its human rights record. The series of events – eight this year and 14 next year – offer alternatives to the Tour, such as 54-hole, no-cut tournaments that offer mega-million signing bonuses and exorbitant prize funds, including $120,000 to last place.
