'Both Sides Are Going To Have To Compromise' - Judge On LIV Lawsuit

With LIV Golf's final individual event in full swing, there was yet more news off the golf course, with a hearing taking place on Friday before US District Court Judge, Susan van Keulen, relating to the breadth and scope of discovery in the antitrust lawsuit that is currently ongoing between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.

A trial is set to go ahead in January 2024 but, on Friday, lawyers representing the Saudi-backed series were present, along with Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein, who are the only three players remaining in the antitrust lawsuit after it began with 11. 

Arguing that LIV Golf's initial request for discovery was appropriate, it's a different story for attorneys of the PGA Tour, who have cited the expedited schedule for the lawsuit and called LIV’s request "burdensome".

WHAT IS LIV GOLF?

During the hearing, which took place over Zoom, US District Court Judge, van Keulen stated: “I appreciate LIV’s idea of throwing the net far and wide, [but] you don’t have time for it to be that broad. Similarly, the Tour’s response is too narrow. It’s frankly just too fine. Both sides are going to have to compromise on this.”

Having requested communications from PGA Tour's employees over a four-year period of “any prospective or any new professional golf tour or league or promoter of professional golf events,” the PGA Tour has provided tens of thousands of e-mail searches, relevant documents, board meeting minutes and financial statements since the beginning of October.

The primary issue on Friday was, who amongst the PGA Tour would be included amongst the discovery process, with LIV lawyers asking for 83 individuals from the Tour's “organization chart”, but Judge van Keulen stated that was “too broad.”

Upon hearing van Keulen's statement, LIV Golf's lead attorney, Dominic Surprenant, added “A, I respectfully disagree; but B, I clearly hear you,” with the court explaining that both LIV Golf and the PGA Tour should work towards a compromise, especially as LIV have made a request for any “verbal” communication between the Tour and various other parties regarding the Saudi-backed golf league.

“If somebody threatened the Japanese golfers [to not play LIV Golf], we don’t know who that is,” claimed Surprenant, before adding “we know a lot of the threats, a lot of the communication is verbal.”

Along with scheduling an in-person hearing next Thursday, Judge Van Keulen also ruled that the PGA Tour will provide a list of those who communicated on behalf of the Tour regarding the Saudi-backed series, as well as indicate who on that list had “verbal” communications regarding LIV.