Phil Mickelson, Ian Poulter, Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford have removed their names from the lawsuit filed by a group of LIV Golf players against the PGA Tour. LIV Golf and the PGA Tour have been locked in battle since the Saudi-funded series kicked off this summer.
LIV have been able to lure a number of the game's biggest names at the expense of the PGA Tour thanks to multi-million pound signing on fees and lucrative prize money. In response the Tour looked to take harsh action on those defecting, suspending them from their competition.
This led to 11 players beginning a legal battle against the American-based circuit, with the Saudi-funded series itself later joining the case.
Mickelson seemed to be the early trailblazer of the lawsuit, but now the 52-year-old has made the decision to step away from the legal battle. In a statement per the Wall Street Journal , he said: "I am pleased that the players on Tour are finally being heard, respected, and valued and are benefiting from the changes recently implemented.
"With LIV’s involvement in these issues, the players’ rights will be protected, and I no longer feel it is necessary for me to be part of the proceedings." Without the six-time major champion LIV's case against the PGA Tour goes on.
Just three players now remain on the case alongside their LIV bosses, in Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein. Despite the recent drop outs, the breakaway series revealed in a statement that the 'merit of the case' had not been effected.
LIV Golf chief communications officer Jonathan Grella said: "Nothing has changed. The merits of the case—the PGA Tour’s anticompetitive conduct—still stand and will be fully tested in court. LIV stands with the players whom the PGA Tour has treated so poorly, but we also recognize that to be successful, we no longer need a wide array of players to be on the suit.”
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Mickelson - who was a PGA Tour stalwart across three decades - has called for the two sides in golf's burning civil war to work in unison, commenting: "The best solution is for us to come together. As soon as that happens and we all start working together, that’s going to be a really positive thing for everyone.”
The PGA Tour however seem less than keen, with commissioner Jay Monahan ruling out any handshaking between the two circuits amid the ongoing legal battle. He told Golf Channel: "Listen, I think I've been pretty clear on this. I don't see this happening.
When you look at where we are, and you think about words and actions, we're currently in a lawsuit, so coming together and having conversations, to me, that card is off the table, and it has been for a long period of time.
