A federal district court judge ruled against three LIV Golf players that were looking to get a temporary restraining order against the PGA Tour so they could play in this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.
Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones hoped to be able to perform in the FedEx Cup playoffs, as they ranked among the top 125 players, and argued that they had earned their spot in the tournament for their play earlier in the season.
This is the first of three FedEx Cup playoff tournaments that will conclude with the Tour Championship a couple of weeks from now. The winner this season will receive an $18 million bonus.
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The judge didn’t think the players made their case
Judge Beth Labson Freeman said that the plaintiffs made a compelling case, but acknowledged that they waited until late in the process to make their claim and have not made their case.
The judge would also suggest that any monetary loss suffered by the players unable to participate in the FedEx Cup playoffs would be made up by the guaranteed contracts the players had signed with LIV Golf.
“It appears to the court that the LIV contracts, negotiated by the players and consummated between the parties, were based upon the players’ calculation of what they would be leaving behind and the amount the players would need to monetize to compensate for those losses,” Freeman told the court.
What did the LIV Golf players argue in court?
Gooch, Swafford and Jones had sent legal-heavy letters to PGA Tour officials last month, protesting their suspensions and claiming the regulations were onerous and kept them from playing elsewhere.
“I am a free agent and independent contractor. The Tour cannot have its cake and eat it too by trying to control me as one might an employee, while not providing me the rights and benefits an employee would receive,” the letters said.
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