A FEDERAL JUDGE on Tuesday denied a request by three LIV Golf Series players for a temporary restraining order allowing them to play in this week’s US 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.
Australian Matt 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.
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.
“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 Golf Channel.
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.”
It was a stupid statement by the county board and embarrassing for most Cork Gaa fans. They should have said that Cork came close and will learn from it and move on. Blaming the ref is childish and embarrassing. However, I think what they said regarding Cuthbert was correct. It is terrible that he got so much personal abuse from keyboard warriors. He tried his best and made some progress with the team. Going forward John Cleary is the right man for the job and I hope he takes up the role sooner rather than later. The Rebels will rise again. It Will just take time.
I keep reading how Cork GAA fans are so embarrassed by this. I am a Cork GAA fan and I am not embarrassed, I am absolutely delighted with this statement. Anything that shows up the county board for what they are the better.
Many from out side the county didn’t understand the need for the strikes, to many it appeared to be a team of primadonnas full of their importance and blaming the county board for their failures was just a convenient excuse for their failures. It seemed crazy to blame the demise of Cork GAA on the County Board and Frank. These games were lost on the field surely but know Cork are setup to fail in many cases. Palls of the board get the top coaching positions whether they are the best candidates or not.
Finally those outside the county might be starting to see what we are dealing with. It’s a shame that airing our dirty laundry in public seems to be the only way but unfortunately it is. Anything that exposed the ineptitude of our county board and puts pressure on Frank and co is a good thing in my book.
what a shower of dopes
Unbelievable in this day and age that a county board could let a childish statement out to the media and expect no fall out from it. While some of their grievances are well merited they should of held fire and not embarrass the proud people of cork. Who in their right mind would let their name go forward for the senior job now. Until their is a complete clear out of county board officials this I am afraid is par for the course going forward. Finally I think the clubs of cork will react properly to this embarrassment and finally do something about it.
hahaha can’t believe that one
One word of advice for the Cork county board whose effortless teams don’t need you…retire.