The antitrust lawsuit that LIV Golf filed against the PGA Tour no longer carries the names of any actual LIV Golf players.
LIV Golf v. PGA Tour is now exactly that — “only a case between two competing golf leagues,” as the PGA Tour argued in a court filing this week.
Bryson DeChambeau and Australia’s Matt Jones were the final two player plaintiffs to remove themselves from the case, which was initially reported last week. There were initially 11 LIV Golf members included in the suit in U.S. District Court in Northern California last August.
The original antitrust suit was intended to combat the PGA Tour’s decision to suspend golfers for competing on the LIV Golf tour without consent.
DeChambeau, who previously said he was sticking with the lawsuit out of principle, explained that he wants to focus his efforts solely on golf moving forward instead.
“I’m in it for the growth of the global game and (the lawsuit) is going to happen whether we like it or not,” DeChambeau told GolfChannel.com at the PGA Championship on Monday. “For me, representing a team, I wanted to be focused on how we can best present ourselves moving forward. On and off the golf course is where I’m focused on helping people whether it’s growing the game globally or if it’s behind the scenes. I need to be able to work for the good of the communities we’re in and the game. That’s where I’m focused, not in a courtroom.”
Jones offered a short answer when asked by Golfweek why he opted to withdraw from the lawsuit: “No reason at all,” he said.
Eighteen LIV Golf members are at Oak Hill Country Club in Pittsford, N.Y., this week to compete in the PGA Championship.
–Field Level Media