'No Irreparable Harm' - LIV Trio Lose Case To Play FedEx Cup Playoffs

After a frantic few hours of speculation, it has been confirmed that three LIV Golf players who had filed a temporary restraining order (TRO) to allow them to play in the FedEx Cup Playoffs will not be able to do so. 

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Earlier, reports emerged suggesting that the judge was inclined to allow the LIV Golf trio to compete in the playoffs, beginning on Thursday in the FedEx St. Jude Championship. However, following the hearing in San Jose, Judge Freeman found "no irreparable harm" and denied Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones TROs to compete. According to Golf Magazine's Sean Zak, it was also ruled that "LIV contracts are based upon players' calculation of what they were leaving behind."

The trio had brought the lawsuit against the PGA Tour last week as part of an antitrust action filed by a group of 11 LIV Golf players challenging their suspensions from the Tour as a result of signing up to the Saudi-backed Series. With the hearing taking place so close to this week's opening playoff tournament, any decision in the players' favour was likely to throw it into chaos.

No doubt there will be sighs of relief from the powers-that-be at the PGA Tour, not least because they won't face either the hassle or humiliation of readmitting three players to this week's tournament that had previously been excluded. However, with rancour between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf showing little sign of abating, there is no doubt that there is still time for more twists in the ongoing power struggle at the top of the game.