LIV Golf dealt another blow in court ruling

Some parts of LIV Golf player contracts can be made public, a judge has ruled.

In the latest twist to the ongoing legal wrangling between the breakaway circuit and the PGA Tour, Judge Bethany Freeman delivered a split ruling on a bid to unseal the contracts.

Lawyers for the PGA Tour had argued some aspects of the documents should not be private, including those relating to social media use, players’ clothing, commitments and financial punishments.

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They claimed those parts are “highly relevant” to the ongoing antitrust lawsuit brought by a number of LIV players against the tour.

Handing down her ruling, the judge agreed some aspects of the contracts should not be redacted. However, she allowed items such as confidential business and financial information to remain restricted.

LIV chiefs are also now prevented from hiding parts of the tour’s rules and regulations. The breakaway circuit had claimed they were still being altered and that making them public would “sow confusion in the market”.

LIV Golf itself has now joined the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, which alleges anticompetitive behaviour. Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Ian Poulter and Peter Uihlein are the players involved.

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Carlos Ortiz, Pat Perez, Jason Kokrak and Matt Wolff were initially among the names listed, but have been removed for various reasons.

A legal bid by Jones, Swafford and Gooch to allow them to play in the FedEx Cup playoffs was earlier thrown out.