The judge ruled. LIV golf players will not be permitted to participate in the FedEx Cup playoff events.
“Plaintiffs have not established irreparable harm,” Judge Beth Labson Freeman said in rendering her decision.
Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford were seeking permission to play in the first playoff tournament, the St. Jude Championship, despite their association with LIV golf.
Only the top 125 players in the FedEx Cup standings can take part, and Gooch’s 20th place, Jones’ 65th place and Swafford’s 67th place would normally have allowed them to take part.
PGA commissioner Jay Monahan, however, had suspended all players who joined the breakaway league, which barred all three men from making the FedEx Cup playoffs.
“They made a decision to receive money,” defended PGA Tour attorney Elliot Peters during the hearing. “They’ve made more money in the last two months than they’ve made in their PGA Tour careers. They have already been paid to compensate for what they complained about. »
This decision comes a few hours after the announcement of the imminent departure of Cameron Smith, 2nd in the FedEx Cup standings. Smith, however, has not set foot on the LIV golf courses and his agreement with LIV has not been formalized, which will allow him to participate in the playoff tournaments.
When asked about the possibility of him joining LIV golf, Smith simply replied that he had “no comment”.
The total purse for this first eliminatory tournament is $15 million. The top 70 players will get their ticket to the next tournament, the BMW Championship. The Circuit Championship will follow to crown the winner of the 2022 season with the 30 best players.
