OWGR, PGA Tour and DP World Tour sued in fresh lawsuit

The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and OWGR are alleged to have colluded to “eliminate LIV Golf”, according to a fresh lawsuit filed in Florida.

Attorney Larry Klayman has lodged the Amended Class Action Complaint, which claims PGA and DP World tour chiefs Jay Monahan and Keith Pelley – who both sit on the OWGR board – broke competition laws by conspiring to restrain trade.

Klayman’s lawsuit alleges the rankings body, together with the tours, attempted to kill off the upstart league “in its infancy”.

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It also claims the quality of golf at PGA Tour events has been “diluted and destroyed by a deterioration of the talent level”.

It further highlights a 34% increase in ticket prices for the PLAYERS Championship for 2023, as well as a 10% hike in briefs for the Arnold Palmer Invitational, describing them as “supracompetitive”.

After filing the suit, Klayman said: “Consumers, that is Florida golf fans including me, have as much right as anyone to benefit from a free market, which would allow all golf leagues and independent contractor players to fairly compete.

“But the defendants have illegally worked hard to prevent this, as the PGA Tour and its co-conspirator defendants will not tolerate honest and fair competition, as it will challenge their trillion dollar plus monopoly to totally dominate the golf world.”

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Klayman is a former prosecutor and candidate for the US Senate.

He is also representing LIV player Patrick Reed in two lawsuits seeking a total of $1billion against various members of the media.