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Now that it’s the PGA Tour 17 players were officially suspended To agree to participate in the LIV Golf event, TOUR could face a “major” antitrust lawsuit, according to some attorneys who specialize in imperfect law.
“The PGA Tour really lends itself to a major legal battle with potential antitrust allegations and also a situation where they can’t justify their actions other than to say, ‘We don’t like competition,'” said New York and Florida Attorney John Lauro.
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PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan speaks at a press conference during practice for THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass on March 8, 2022 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
(Keyur Khamar / PGA TOUR over Getty Images)
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“The courts will be very concerned as to why the PGA TOUR is doing this,” continued Lauro. “These cases are now being examined very carefully by the courts from an antitrust perspective. The courts are very skeptical of any kind of trade restriction and that will be part of what the PGA Tour is doing.”
And if you look at the PGA TOUR’s message to members, I’m sure you’re nervous about the competition LIV Golf has to offer.
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In it, PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan accuses LIV participants “Managing the back on the PGA Tour.” He then gets a little fidgety and hacks them for not providing the proper documentation: “You know, (LIV) players…didn’t get the required conflicting events and media rights releases — or they didn’t request release at all.”
He also seems to judge players for wanting to gamble for money.
“These players made their choice for financial reasons,” says Monahan.
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Bryson DeChambeau waits to make his shot into the seventh bunker during the second round of the Masters golf tournament on Friday, April 8, 2022 in Augusta, Georgia.
(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
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Apparently, Monahan believes the PGA TOUR is a non-profit organization. But it is not. It’s a well-funded business and has never had to compete for golfers or fans. The Saudis and LIV Golf changed all that.
According to Oro and fellow attorney Jonathan Pollard, the PGA TOUR will face lawsuits to suspend players and that they will struggle to persuade a court that they should do so to protect vital property interests.
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In order to successfully enforce an incomplete agreement, Pollard said, the PGA Tour must demonstrate that a player’s participation in a LIV Golf event would compromise “confidential information, trade secrets, vulnerable customer relationships, or unusual investments in employee training or development.”
“These are the three largest and most contentious legitimate business interests upon which a court can enforce an imperfect agreement,” Pollard said. “And if you look at this situation through the PGA Tour, you won’t find any of those interests remotely.”
Not to mention that commenting on players doesn’t make much commercial sense.
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PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan addresses the media during a press conference prior to THE PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass Stadium on March 8, 2022 in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.
(Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
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“(The PGA Tour) is going to have to give up their resistance to this,” predicts Pollard, “because nobody’s going to want to see the PGA Tour if these big players aren’t playing. Then that will be the bottom line, it will hurt their ad revenue, and eventually the market will force them to sit down at the table and make a deal.
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“The PGA Tour will not stand by and support the suspensions or suspensions of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia. They will reverse these suspensions. It will destroy your brand. It will destroy their business.”
At least according to attorneys John Lauro and Jonathan Pollard, the PGA Tour’s guarantee is that officially suspended players are a legally questionable gesture designed to uphold the TOUR’s professional golf monopoly. We’ll see if any of the suspended golfers will respond with a lawsuit.
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