PGA Tour-LIV Golf antitrust case continues despite settlement

The PGA Tour’s litigation settlement with LIV Golf following the so-called merger with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia has not yet brought an end to legal wrangling.

The June 6 revelation of the “framework agreement” between the PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of the LIV Golf series wiped away all the legal disputes between the previously warring factions.

Just days after the bombshell announcement, the US circuit, PIF and the sovereign wealth fund’s governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss each legal claim made against each other.

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The dismissed claims following the alliance between the PGA Tour and PIF meant that any antitrust or counterclaim motions could no longer be filed because of the new truce.

But, as reported by Golf Channel, the case is not entirely over just yet, with legal wrangling continuing over the concealment of documents relating to the antitrust litigation.

The New York Times filed a motion in the aftermath of the ceasefire arguing for the public’s right to information that has been sealed within the case.

The newspaper claimed that the public interest regarding the information outweighed the argument that such documents should be disclosed because they could cause what was defined as “competitive harm” to both parties.

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In a US hearing on Thursday, the case over the sealed documents in question was argued between attorneys from both LIV Golf and the New York Times.

It was reported the the New York Times believes at least 62 documents in the case should be made public.

Beth Labson Freeman, the US District Court Judge, did not deny the motion put forward by the newspaper.

However, she did say that 48 of the documents remained sealed under a “good cause” standard.

LIV Golf’s attorney John Nash was told to brief the court within two weeks about the standard which was used to seal each document relating to the case.