• LIV Golf circuit has blacklisted more than thirty players.
• The PGA Tour has filed a countersuit against LIV Golf.
• LIV Golf will host 14 tournaments in 2023.

The PGA Tour is facing another lawsuit as the conflict with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit continues to be litigated.

Attorney Larry Klayman has filed a Second Amended Class Action Complaint against the PGA Tour, DP World Tour (previously the European Tour), and the Official World Golf Rankings in Palm Beach County, Florida (OWGR).

Klayman cites PGA and DP World tour directors Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley in the filing and asserts that their conduct violates competition law.

The PGA Tour declined to comment, and neither the DP World Tour nor the OWGR responded promptly to a request for comment.

According to the complaint, “there is a collusive, coordinated effort to destroy LIV Golf and its players in their infancy.”

Klayman stated on his ‘Freedom Watch’ website that the OWGR was “alleged to be a major part of the conspiracy to restrain trade in violation of Florida’s antitrust laws.”

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He said that “LIV Golf players are being denied world ranking points to eliminate them from playing in major and other tournaments, harming consumers in this respect as well.”

Klayman asserts in the petition that the suspensions of LIV Golf players have “diluted and destroyed by a deterioration of the talent level” at the PGA Tour, hence diminishing the quality of golf given.

The US PGA Tour has blacklisted more than thirty players who have competed in one of LIV’s 48-man, 54-hole tournaments, prompting eleven LIV Golf players to file an antitrust action against the PGA Tour in August.

Eight of the original plaintiffs in that lawsuit, including ardent LIV advocate Phil Mickelson, have since withdrawn their names from the litigation. Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones, and Peter Uihlein, along with LIV Golf itself, remain as plaintiffs.

The PGA Tour filed a countersuit against LIV Golf in September, accusing it of meddling with its player contracts.

A US judge denied three LIV Golf players’ plea for a temporary restraining order that would have let them to compete in the FedEx Cup playoffs on the US PGA Tour in August.

However, the United States Department of Justice has initiated an antitrust inquiry on the PGA Tour’s efforts to suppress the upstart circuit.

The DP World Tour’s attempts to sanction golfers who play in LIV Golf have also triggered litigation in Europe.

Klayman also represents LIV player Patrick Reed in two defamation cases seeking a total of $750 million in damages from various media members.

LIV Golf, which has attracted numerous top players like Phil Mickelson and Cameron Smith, will host 14 tournaments in 2023 after concluding its inaugural season this month.

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