NEW YORK – The US PGA Tour is suing Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and its governor Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan in the latest legal salvo against the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
The complaint was filed under seal in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, according to court records.
ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported on Friday that the lawsuit seeks to have a court to force Al-Rumayyan and the PIF to provide evidence in an ongoing lawsuit in California involving the warring golf circuits.
The sports website said the suit seeks a motion to compel that would require the PIF to release documents to PGA Tour lawyers through the legal discovery process.
PIF, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, created a division called Golf Saudi which has backed a number of events in the sport before the creation of LIV Golf.
The LIV Golf series kicked off in June and seven tournaments have been played in England, the US, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Its season finale, a team championship, is set to start on Friday at Trump Doral in Miami.
PIF is also the majority owner of Premier League club Newcastle United after completing a takeover in 2021.
The suit also requires Al-Rumayyan, who is also chairman of Newcastle and the Saudi Aramco oil company, to give sworn testimony.
The launch in 2022 of LIV Golf, which has lured some top players – including several Major champions – with record purses, has polarised golf and drawn a swift response from the established PGA and Europe’s DP World Tours.
The PGA Tour has banned more than 30 players who have teed off in one of LIV Golf’s 48-man, 54-hole tournaments, a move that prompted 11 LIV Golf players to file an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in August.
Eight of the original plaintiffs in that suit, including vocal LIV Golf supporter Phil Mickelson, have since removed their names from the action, while Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein remain as plaintiffs along with LIV Golf itself.
In September, the PGA Tour filed a countersuit against LIV Golf, accusing it of interfering with its contracts with players.
In August, a US judge denied a request by three LIV Golf players for a temporary restraining order that would have allowed them to compete in the PGA Tour’s FedExCup play-offs.
But the US Department of Justice has opened an antitrust investigation into the PGA Tour’s actions in attempting to quell the upstart circuit.
The DP World Tour’s efforts to suspend golfers who participate in LIV Golf has also sparked litigation in Europe.
Arguments for summary judgment are scheduled for July 13, 2023. If it goes to trial, it would begin on Jan 8, 2024.
AFP, REUTERS
