Report: Judge 'Inclined' To Allow LIV Trio To Play FedEx Cup Playoffs

Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones could still play in this week's FedEx St. Jude Championship

The FedExCup trophy
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Mike Hall
By
published

The FedExCup Playoffs begin with the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind later this week. 

However, while the PGA Tour has excluded LIV Golf players who would otherwise be eligible to play, there has been some doubt as to the status of the final field for the tournament since three LIV Golf players filed a temporary restraining order against the PGA Tour to allow them to play.

Video: What Is LIV Golf?

The hearing is taking place in San Jose today, and, according to golf journalist Alan Shipnuck, there could be about to be a big new twist in the saga. While live-tweeting on the hearing, Shipnuck said: “Oh s***! Judge Freeman just said she is inclined to let the 3 plaintiffs play this week while this all gets further sorted out.”

Last month, it was revealed that the PGA Tour was using a secondary points list to clarify eligibility for this year’s playoffs. Eight players were omitted from the revised list, and three of them, Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford, are challenging their exclusion via the lawsuit.

Yesterday, the PGA Tour responded to the lawsuit, saying it was “legally baseless”. Attorneys wrote that if Gooch, Swafford and Jones were re-instated into the FedEx Cup Playoffs it would "harm all Tour players that follow the rules".

With the tournament getting under way in less than two days, things could be about to get messy as the power struggle at the top of the game continues.

Mike Hall
Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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