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Judge denies restraining order for Matt Jones, Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford, FedEx Cup Playoffs

Judge denies restraining order for Matt Jones, Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford, FedEx Cup Playoffs

A federal judge has denied a request by three LIV Golf Series players, including Australian Matt Jones, for a temporary restraining order allowing them to play in this week’s $US75m PGA Tour FedEx Cup playoffs.

US District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman made the ruling after a hearing at San Jose on the lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California. The news came on a dramatic day in which Aussie world No.2 Cameron Smith was reported to have signed on for the Greg Norman-led rebel tour.

Jones and Americans Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford had sought the chance to compete in the FedEx Cup playoff opener, the St. Jude’s Championship, that begins Thursday in Memphis.

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Terse Cam refuses to address LIV rumors | 00:43

All three were among those suspended by the PGA Tour after they teed off in their first event of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series in June. The ruling upheld that ban.

“We’re disappointed that Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones won’t be allowed to play golf,” LIV Golf said in a statement. “No one gains by banning golfers from playing.” Gooch was ranked 20th in FedEx Cup points with Jones 65th and Swafford 67th. The top 125 players in season points qualified for Memphis with 70 players advancing to next week’s BMW Championship and the top 30 reaching the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.

Had they been able to play and reached the Tour Championship, the trio would have earned berths in next year’s Masters and US and British Opens.

But LIV Golf players could not show irreparable harm since they will be allowed to play LIV Golf events when those resume next month in Boston.

While LIV Golf players claim they are independent contractors, the PGA Tour argued they were members and the tour can punish members who violate rules, such as playing in LIV events.

Smith tightlipped on rumored defection | 05:10

“With today’s news, our players, fans and partners can now focus on what really matters over the next three weeks, the best players in the world competing in the FedEx Cup playoffs,” PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said in a memo obtained by The GolfChannel.

LIV Golf has lured away such top stars as Dustin Johnson and Henrik Stenson with guaranteed money and record purses of $25 million at events.

Jones, Gooch and Swafford were among 11 LIV Golf players who filed an anti-trust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz, who had been among the 11 players in the lawsuit, has dropped out of the case, his manager said.

Some players at Memphis warned of a frosty reception for LIV golfers had they been allowed to tee off after departing for richer prize money as well as trying to knock PGA players out of their own playoffs.

“Going to be a pretty icy Thursday morning if those guys play,” 2009 US Open champion Lucas Glover told The Golf Channel. “They want their cake and eat it too.”

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LIV Golf Series: Player contracts and prizemoney, PGA Tour, golf news

LIV Golf Series: Player contracts and prizemoney, PGA Tour, golf news

It turns out that at least some players who have ditched the PGA Tour for the riches of the LIV Golf Series aren’t actually earning a dime when it comes to their results in the lucrative, but controversial, Saudi-backed circuit.

That bombshell was revealed Tuesday in US District Court in San Jose, Calif., where a federal judge denied a temporary restraining order for three players currently suspended by the tour after leaving for LIV, the New York Post reports.

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They were seeking to be allowed to play in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup Playoffs, which begins this week in Memphis.

During the hearing, a lawyer representing LIV said that players’ earnings are counted against the upfront money they receive for joining.

That means a $4 million first-place winner’s check would essentially amount to money a player has already been paid for signing with the rival faction. The lawyer said that not every contract is the same, but also said not all money is guaranteed, before moving on in the case.

That contradicts what a LIV official and some players have said up to this point.

When Brooks Koepka was pressed at the LIV tournament outside Portland, Ore., last month on whether a player’s winnings come out of the signing bonus, the four-time major champion said, “That’s not — no. Nope.” When questioned again on the issue, he said, “No. I don’t know — it’s irrelevant.”

At the end of the press conference in Portland, a LIV official in Portland tried to clear up the matter at the time.

“I just wanted to address [the] question earlier when you were asking about the prize purses and if they are in addition to the contracts,” she said. “The prize purses are in addition to. There is no draw at LIV Golf on any finances,” she said. “We just wanted to, on the record, it’s in addition to. And while you guys have, this is your first event, but you should know that from your contracts. You can test it. Thank you guys.”

That appears to not exactly be the case after all, however, according to one of LIV’s own attorneys.

This article originally appeared on the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.

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Greg Norman’s LIV Tour forces PGA Tour’s $590m prizemoney first

Greg Norman's LIV Tour forces PGA Tour's $590m prizemoney first

Faced with a growing challenge from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Series, the US PGA Tour announced a 2022-23 season schedule on Monday offering a record $AUD590 million in prize money.

The PGA increased the prize money at eight invitational tournaments, with The Players Championship set to pay out $35m, and will offer $206m in bonus money, including $107m for the FedEx Cup playoffs, which will be trimmed to 70 players from the current 125.

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The move comes as the LIV Golf Series — spearheaded by Aussie legend Greg Norman — has offered the highest purses in history to lure big-name talent from the PGA to its upstart tour, which is set to rise from eight events in 2022 to 14 in 2023.

LIV Golf has drawn protests and claims of “sportwashing” from critics citing Saudi human rights issues but such stars as Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Henrik Stenson, Bryson DeChambeau, Paul Casey and Patrick Reed have jumped to the rebel series that debuted in June.

The US PGA, which will return to a season that coincides with the calendar year starting in 2024, tightened its playoffs and boosted select purses after comments from fans, PGA commissioner Jay Monahan said.

“The overwhelming sentiment was they wanted more consequences for both the regular season and the playoffs and to further strengthen events that traditionally feature top players competing head-to-head,” Monahan said. “We feel strongly we’ve accomplished all of these objectives.”

The 2022-23 PGA season will have 47 tournaments, including three playoff events next August with a field of 70 at the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, 50 at the BMW Championship in Chicago and the top 30 in points advancing to the season-ending Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.

After the season ends, late 2023 will feature events for those outside the top 70 to earn status for the 2024 PGA campaign plus a series of “international events” featuring the PGA top 50 in a limited field, no-cut format. No other details were revealed about those events.

The St. Jude and BMW will see a jump in prize money from $21 million to $28 million.

The January Tournament of Champions will see its purse rise from $12 million to $21 million next year. It will become the lead-off event of the PGA season when the schedule changes in 2024.

Four events will see prize money jump from $17 million to $28 million — the Genesis Invitational in February hosted by Tiger Woods, the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill in March, the Jack Nicklaus-hosted Memorial in June and the WGC Match Play in March.

Prize money will jump from $28 million to $35 million for The Players Championship in March.

The Scottish Open, Barbasol Championship and Barracuda Championship will remain co-sanctioned with the DP World Tour.

The 2022-23 campaign will begin on September 15-18 with the Fortinet Championship at Napa, California, with the Presidents Cup the following week at Quail Hollow.

The CJ Cup has been moved from South Korea to South Carolina and will be played in October with the Bermuda Championship the following week.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic, won Sunday by Tony Finau, will start June 29 next year while the 3M Open moves to the end of July.

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