The PGA Tour have 'countersued' their fierce rivals LIV Golf, according to The Athletic . The two circuits have been embroiled in a civil war for months, following LIV's efforts to lure in some of the sport's biggest names.
As the likes of Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka signed mega-money deals to sign for the contentious Saudi-backed series, the PGA Tour inflicted sanctions on those that defected - suspending them from competition.
In response both their players - 11 stars which is now only down to three - and LIV Golf themselves filed a lawsuit against the game's flagship tour on antitrust violations. The PGA Tour though have now reportedly hit back, having allegedly 'countersued' the LIV Golf Series, whilst also denying the antitrust claims against them.
Per The Athletic , the American-based circuit's complaint read: "Indeed, a key component of LIV’s strategy has been to intentionally induce TOUR members to breach their TOUR agreements and play in LIV events while seeking to maintain their TOUR memberships and play in marquee TOUR events like The Players Championship and the FedEx Cup Playoffs, so LIV can free ride off the TOUR and its platform.
"LIV has openly sought to damage the TOUR’s business relationships with its members by inducing them to breach their contractual requirements, even going so far as to pay members’ legal fees to make breaching their contracts with TOUR more enticing.”
The Tour have also allegedly suggested that if either side has committed anticompetitive behaviour - the accusations placed by LIV on the flagship circuit - then it is in fact the Saudi-funded series who have due to its regulations being more restrictive to the players than the PGA Tour's.
The complaint went on: "LIV has signed golfers to multi-year contracts containing obligations that are far more restrictive than anything in the Regulations, including a prohibition on participation in conflicting events that, unlike the TOUR’s conflicting event rules, does not allow for any request for release."
In response to the Tour's claims, LIV Golf told Mirror Sport when contacted for comment: "The Tour has made these counterclaims in a transparent effort to divert attention from their anti-competitive conduct, which LIV and the players detail in their 104-page complaint. We remain confident that the courts and the justice system will right these wrongs.”
The PGA Tour's actions come after Phil Mickelson was among the players to drop his name from the lawsuit suing the PGA Tour. Mickelson was also joined by Ian Poulter, Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford in stepping away. Three LIV names remain on the initial complainant, including Bryson DeCheambeau, Australian Matt Jones and American Peter Uihlein.
Mirror Sport has also contacted the PGA Tour for comment.
