Three LIV Golf players have filed for temporary restraining orders against the PGA Tour to enable them to play in the FedEx playoffs, which start next week.
As part of the antitrust action filed by a group of 11 LIV players, Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford have applied for temporary restraining orders against the PGA Tour. All three had all already earned enough points to qualify for the Playoffs before moving to the LIV Golf Series, but have been removed from the field.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan responded to players signing with the Saudi-backed series by banning them from Tour events, including the lucrative FedEx Playoffs, but 11 players, including Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, are now asking the courts to rule whether that decision is legal.
The FedEx Playoffs begin next week with the FedEx St Jude Invitational, where the top 125 players tee off at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. The top 70 then take part in the following week’s BMW Championship at Wilmington (Delaware) Country Club, with the top 30 making it to the season-ending Tour Championship, once again being played at Atlanta’s iconic East Lake Golf Club.
Last week, the PGA Tour released the FedEx Playoffs and eligibility points list, which removed all players that are suspended from its events and ineligible - all LIV Golfers essentially. While the Tour said the new list wasn’t replacing the official FedEx standings, which would still be used to pay bonuses to all players at the end of the season, it would be used to determine the field for the Playoffs, with the top 125 on the new list also retaining full Tour membership for next season, and the next 75 earning a spot on the Korn Ferry Tour.
On the official FedEx standings, Gooch currently stands in 20th place, with Jones and Swafford in 62nd and 63rd respectively, so each had qualified comfortably before the new list was produced.
In response to the legal action against the PGA Tour, commissioner Monahan wasted no time in releasing a letter to all members. In it, he accuses the players of having walked away from the Tour, only to try and “use lawyers to force their way into competition alongside our members in good standing”.
Gooch, Jones and Swafford got special mention in Monahan’s response. In the letter, he said: “Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford are seeking a temporary restraining order to play in the FedExCup Playoffs, despite knowing they would be ineligible for tournament play as early as June, and of course, the year’s worth of communication is advance of their decision to join the Saudi Golf League.”
In appealing for the temporary restraining order, the group legal action from the LIV players points out that not only would those missing out on the FedEx playoffs suffer immediately, it also “cripples their chances of qualifying for both the Majors and and the Tour’s premier invitationals in future seasons”, adding that the punishment of not playing in the FedEx Cup Playoffs is “substantial and irreparable”.
With the first tournament starting next week, it’s possible that these legal proceedings could follow the same path as those taken by some LIV players before the Scottish Open last month. After questioning the legality of being banned from that event, a group of players, including Ian Poulter, had their suspensions temporarily lifted pending the appeals being heard in full. If that is the case, Gooch, Jones and Swafford could find themselves back in the FedEx Playoffs ahead of the legal battle being played out in full.
