PGA Tour

Rory McIlroy said he doesn't "want a fractured game," and that's why he thinks the PGA Tour and LIV Golf must try to work together.

“Golf is so much bigger than all of us and I think people miss that,” McIlroy said. “It’s no good for the guys on, you know, this side or the sort of traditional system and it’s no good for the guys on the other side, either. You look at some other sports and what’s happened and the game of golf is ripping itself apart right now and that’s no good for anyone,” McIlroy continued.

The PGA Tour filed a countersuit against LIV Golf on Wednesday, claiming the Saudi Arabian-financed circuit has interfered with existing contracts it had ...

[Bryson DeChambeau](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/10046/bryson-dechambeau), [Matt Jones](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/1367/matt-jones) and [Peter Uihlein](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/1674/peter-uihlein) remain as plaintiffs in the case, along with LIV Golf. Instead, it is a cynical effort to avoid competition and to freeride off of the Tour's investment in the development of professional golf. Both LIV and the Player Plaintiffs baked the financial cost of their suspensions into LIV's exorbitant signing bonuses, making the Player Plaintiffs whole. "This case is not about unfair competition -- if anyone is competing unfairly, it is LIV, not the Tour. "Through this lawsuit, LIV asks the Court to invalidate these wholly legitimate provisions with the stroke of a pen after inducing the remaining Player Plaintiffs to violate those same regulations with hundreds of millions of dollars in Saudi money," the PGA Tour motion said. "We remain confident that the courts and the justice system will right these wrongs." "[T]here is no actual injury to Plaintiffs here, and no violation of the law," PGA Tour attorneys argued in the motion. Four other players who were originally part of the lawsuit -- [Abraham Ancer](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9261/abraham-ancer), [Carlos Ortiz](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/5532/carlos-ortiz), [Pat Perez](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/707/pat-perez) and [Jason Kokrak](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/3317/jason-kokrak) -- also are no longer involved in the case. The U.S. [Sergio Garcia](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/158/sergio-garcia), in which Norman wrote: "They cannot ban you for one day let alone life. Happy for anyone to speak with our legal team to better understand they have no chance of enforcing." [Phil Mickelson](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/308/phil-mickelson) and three other players -- [Ian Poulter](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/619/ian-poulter), [Hudson Swafford](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/5504/hudson-swafford) and [Talor Gooch](http://www.espn.com/golf/player/_/id/9513/talor-gooch) -- asked a judge to be [removed as plaintiffs](https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/34676211/phil-mickelson-3-other-golfers-ask-dismissed-plaintiffs-liv-golf-lawsuit-pga-tour) in the antitrust case.

The PGA Tour accused LIV Golf of using antitrust laws "as a cudgel" and undermining its contracts with players in a counterclaim to a lawsuit the ...

"Even going so far as to pay members' legal fees to make breaching their contracts with Tour more enticing." Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and others huge sums of money to join the new tour. NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - The PGA Tour accused LIV Golf of using antitrust laws "as a cudgel" and undermining its contracts with players in a counterclaim to a lawsuit the Saudi-backed circuit filed last month.

The PGA Tour came out swinging on Wednesday with a 71-page answer to the amended complaint filed by Matt Jones, Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and LIV ...

Instead, it is a cynical effort to avoid competition and to freeride off of the Tour’s investment in the development of professional golf. “The Tour claims in its counterclaim that LIV's tortious inducement of numerous, repeated breaches of contract by former Tour members, including Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Bryson DeChambeau, Ian Poulter, and Peter Uihlein (together, 'LIV Players'),” the PGA Tour states in its introduction. "We remain confident that the courts and the justice system will right these wrongs.” 3 with substantial completion of document production by Nov. 23, but the Tour asked for an additional five days to file their answer, which the judge granted. Document production will start on Oct.

The PGA Tour responded Wednesday to the antitrust lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court last month with a 71-page motion.

In the counterclaim, which seeks a jury trial and “damages … “Through this lawsuit, LIV asks the court to invalidate these wholly legitimate provisions with the stroke of a pen after inducing the remaining player plaintiffs to violate those same regulations with hundreds of millions of dollars in Saudi money,” the response read. “The player plaintiffs that have remained in the case – eight of the original eleven players have withdrawn their names from this lawsuit already – want only to enrich themselves in complete disregard of the promises they made to the Tour and its members when they joined the Tour.”

LIV Golf and three of its players are currently suing the PGA Tour for antitrust violations, and on Wednesday night the Tour responded to and countersued the ...

Both LIV and the Player Plaintiffs baked the financial cost of their suspensions into LIV’s exorbitant signing bonuses, making the Player Plaintiffs whole,” the document states. Instead, it is a cynical effort to avoid competition and to free ride off of the Tour’s investment in the development of professional golf. “This case is not about unfair competition – if anyone is competing unfairly, it is LIV, not the Tour. LIV Golf, who joined the suit in an amended complaint filed Aug. “LIV, by its own admission, has succeeded in attracting numerous elite professional golfers to participate in its new league. 27., and just three players remain: Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein.

The PGA Tour has countersued LIV Golf, accusing it of "free riding" on its platform.

"A key component of LIV's strategy has been to intentionally induce Tour members to breach their Tour agreements and play in LIV events while seeking to maintain their Tour memberships and play in marquee Tour events like The Players and the FedEx Cup Playoffs, so LIV can free ride off the Tour and its platform,” the complaint reads. [the Athletic](https://theathletic.com/uk/). Now, however, the PGA Tour has taken legal action of its own against the Saudi-backed startup, according to

The introduction of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf has caused a huge divide in the sport, with big names such as Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau defecting from ...

"They knew the risks going in, and actions have consequences. "I would just say the ball is in their court," McIlroy said. "I don't know what's going to happen with this lawsuit. "It has been an ugly year but there's a solution to everything. "If some of these guys that don't have exemptions in the majors don't qualify for them, I have no problem with that because they knew that going in." "If they want to come to the table and try to play nicely within the sandbox that's already created, the opportunity is there."

The PGA Tour filed a countersuit against LIV Golf late Wednesday, alleging that the Saudi-backed upstart league is guilty of anti-competitive practices.

"Recent reports about media rights have been incomplete and inaccurate," Grella told CNBC in response to the Golfweek report. ](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/21/inside-the-pga-tours-lobbying-effort-against-saudi-funded-liv-golf.html?&qsearchterm=pga%20tour)against LIV Golf. "We remain confident that the courts and the justice system will right these wrongs." Typically, channels pay leagues for the right to air competitions, not the other way around. In turn, [LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman, a former PGA Tour star, visited Capitol Hill in mid-September](https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/19/liv-golf-ceo-greg-norman-visits-capitol-hill-as-saudi-backed-league-battles-pga-tour.html?&qsearchterm=pga%20tour) to "educate members on LIV's business model and counter the Tour's anti-competitive efforts." [reportedly turned down an LIV offer worth almost $800 million](https://www.golfchannel.com/news/greg-norman-tiger-woods-rejected-700-800m-offer-join-liv).

The PGA Tour denied violating federal antitrust laws and said that LIV Golf officials persuaded players to violate their contracts with the tour.

The tour said in its filing that Norman’s reassurances “were intended to mislead players who were concerned about the consequences of breaching their agreements with the TOUR and to encourage them to breach those agreements.” The tour claimed in its filing that LIV Golf was aware that golfers had contracts in place with the PGA Tour and intentionally misled those players in encouraging them to break those agreements. “We remain confident that the courts and the justice system will right these wrongs.” [sued the PGA Tour ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/03/mickelson-liv-pga-tour-lawsuit/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9)on Aug. [LIV Golf joined that lawsuit](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/08/28/liv-golf-antitrust-lawsuit/?itid=lk_inline_manual_9) on Aug. Ask them to put in writing to you or any player.

Enhancing in-person and online events is par for the PGA Tour's course. We talk digital customer experiences with the Tour's fan engagement lead.

But if we can free up some of that time for the data scientists to focus on deeper analytics and segmenting, I think we'll be better off and just let the tech do some of the lifting for us. I mean, there's a lot of these emerging opportunities that we see as a way to grow and diversify our fan base and to engage younger fans. [orchestration](https://www.techtarget.com/searchcustomerexperience/news/252510417/More-marketing-personalization-from-AWS-Pegasystems). Betting is going to be a huge opportunity in the future. We do have a lot of very rich fan data from a lot of different sources, whether it is ticket buyers, people registering on our digital platform, signing up for newsletters, playing We are basically doing all that data science work internally, and we've got the horsepower to do it. [environment right now](https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/The-Great-Resignation-Everything-you-need-to-know) is different. From an experience delivery standpoint -- front-end, fan-facing technologies -- we use Adobe almost exclusively: Marketo for email, Adobe Experience Manager on all of our digital platforms. We also collect feedback from users of our digital platforms through our fan panel. We also have a lot of other stakeholders that we would consider customers. You can engage on site of a tournament, through social media, streaming, television, betting, the list goes on and on. We've got a very diverse and rich ecosystem just within the fan space.

The PGA Tour has fired back against LIV Golf's antitrust lawsuit, countersuing the Saudi-backed circuit in a United States district court.

A tentative date for summary judgment in the antitrust case is set for July 23, 2023, where the tour will likely seek to dismiss the case. The PGA Tour scored an early victory against LIV Golf when a U.S. Sources told Golf Digest the tour didn’t originally countersue as it didn’t want to battle its former players, but the addition of LIV into the suit, coupled with many of the aforementioned players withdrawing their names, opened this litigious avenue. The trial date expected to begin on Jan. “LIV’s statements regarding golfer freedom are a thinly veiled public relations ploy concocted to disparage the tour and deflect criticism from LIV’s own restrictive business model.” Any existing player sponsors also must be introduced to LIV, and that players must wear LIV-branded apparel.

Patrick Reed drops $750 million defamation lawsuit against Golf Channel and files bigger one with more defendants.

The $750 million sought is for actual and compensatory damages; Reed claims he lost multimillion-dollar sponsorships as a result of being defamed by Chamblee et al. Reed attorney Larry Klayman refiled the suit on Wednesday in US District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Jacksonville. Phil Mickelson and three others are the latest to ask for removal as plaintiffs from the lawsuit.

The PGA Tour launches a counterclaim lawsuit against the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, saying it enticed players to breach contracts and help 'sportswash' ...

[asked to be removed from the LIV lawsuit.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/63038536) [Lauren Laverne chats to the legendary tennis player and presenter](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001c678#xtor=CS8-1000-%5BIn_Article_Promo_Box%5D-%5BSport_Promo_In_Article%5D-%5BSport_Promo_In_Article_BBCiPlayer%5D-%5BPS_SOUNDS~~m001c678~P_DesertIslandDiscsSueBarker%5D) [Follow the investigation into the fatal crash](https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001c7qg/transfer-the-fate-of-emiliano-sala#xtor=CS8-1000-%5BIn_Article_Promo_Box%5D-%5BSport_Promo_In_Article%5D-%5BSport_Promo_In_Article_BBCiPlayer%5D-%5BPS_IPLAYER~~m001c7qg~P_TransferTheFateOfEmilianoSala%5D) [money was "a factor"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/62713057) in his decision. [its human rights record.](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/61401351) [Ball is in LIV golfers' court, says Rory McIlroy](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/63061058) [Langasque equals Old Course record to lead Alfred Dunhill Links Championship](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/63082867)

The PGA Tour has filed a countersuit against the LIV Golf series, claiming the renegade circuit interfered with contracts the Tour had with its players.

The format changes in the Team Championship, which is a seeded four-day, four-round, match play knock-out tournament. We remain confident that the courts and the justice system will right these wrongs." Phil Mickelson and three others are the latest to ask for removal as plaintiffs from the lawsuit.

The PGA Tour filed a counterclaim against the breakaway, Saudi-backed LIV Golf series, which has accused the tour of antitrust violations.

“With LIV’s involvement in these issues, the players’ rights will be protected, and I no longer feel it is necessary for me to be part of the proceedings.” Four of the players had already removed themselves from the suit, and on Tuesday, four more players — Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, Ian Poulter and Hudson Swafford — withdrew. At the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. [11 former PGA Tour players](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/sports/golf/liv-golf-pga-tour-lawsuit.html), and LIV joined in late August. In its counterclaim, the PGA Tour, which LIV is suing for antitrust violations, said the upstart series had “tortiously interfered” with the tour’s contracts with golfers who had left to join LIV. The suit comes weeks after PGA Tour stars, including Tiger Woods,

The PGA Tour fired back against LIV Golf in a court battle between the tournament organizers, claiming the Saudi Arabia-backed upstart is competing unfairly ...

This is the latest flare-up between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf in a battle over the future of professional golf.

[planning to annex](https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kremlin-regions-ukraine-folded-russia-friday-90683980) Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia on Friday, a Kremlin spokesperson told reporters. Instead, it is a cynical effort to avoid competition and to freeride off of the tour’s investment in the development of professional golf," Wednesday's filing said per AP. [planned annexation](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/29/putin-russia-annex-donetsk-luhansk-zaporizhzhia-kherson) of [four Moscow-occupied areas](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/23/russian-controlled-ukraine-regions-russia-vote) of Ukraine "will not mean what the Kremlin hopes for." It's also the slowest overall quarter since pandemic-ravaged Q2 2020. [Herb Scribner writes](https://www.axios.com/2022/09/02/pga-tour-denies-membership-liv-golf-roster). [federal lawsuit](https://www.axios.com/2022/08/03/phil-mickelson-liv-golf-antitrust-lawsuit-pga-tour) filed in California, in which the latter accused the PGA Tour of illegally suspending players for competing in its tournaments.

The PGA Tour has filed a countersuit against the LIV Golf series, claiming the renegade circuit interfered with contracts the Tour had with its players.

The format changes in the Team Championship, which is a seeded four-day, four-round, match play knock-out tournament. We remain confident that the courts and the justice system will right these wrongs." Phil Mickelson and three others are the latest to ask for removal as plaintiffs from the lawsuit.

The countersuit comes first with an answer to the amended complaint by LIV Golf. While eight of the original plaintiffs (the lead of which was Phil Mickelson) ...

The tentacles of LIV Golf vs. The PGA Tour says it cannot admit or deny that happened because it is currently “without sufficient evidence.” All of which leads us to the next stages of the lawsuit: discovery. In other words, we expected some answer from the Tour to the dozens of anticompetitive allegations LIV Golf claimed. In total, there were more than 300 paragraphs in the original complaint, which stretched more than 100 pages, all of which the Tour would be issuing some response to. Reed, who had originally filed a $750 million defamation suit at Brandel Chamblee and Golf Channel, withdrew that suit from the state of Texas, only to refile it in the Middle District Court of Florida, in Jacksonville. “Both LIV and the Player Plaintiffs baked the financial cost of their suspensions into LIV’s exorbitant signing bonuses, making the Player Plaintiffs whole.