Matt Jones has been named as one of 11 LIV Golfers who have filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, while the Australian is also among three players seeking a restraining order allowing them to play the upcoming FedEx Cup playoffs.
Jones, a two-time PGA Tour winner, was among the golfers who were recruited prior to the opening LIV Golf event in London in June. After Jones and others participated in the $US25 million LIV series opener, he was suspended by the PGA Tour.
The complaint and application for a temporary restraining order, copies of which were obtained by Australian Golf Digest, were filed on Wednesday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
The complaint outline Jones’ suspension from the PGA Tour, which is almost three years.
“On June 9, 2022, the Tour unlawfully suspended Mr Jones on an indefinite basis from playing on the Tour,” the complain claimed. “On June 30, 2022, the Tour unlawfully suspended Mr. Jones from playing on the Tour (or any affiliated tours) through at least March 31, 2023. On July 23, 2022, the Tour unlawfully extended Mr. Jones’s suspension through at least March 31, 2024. The PGA Tour has threatened to impose further disciplinary sanction on Mr. Jones if he continues to play in LIV Golf events when he is not playing on the Tour.”
Eleven LIV players are challenging their suspensions by the PGA Tour for joining the Saudi Arabian government-backed LIV Golf series. Jones is one of three in the lawsuit—as well as Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford—who are attempting to receive a temporary restraining order that would allow them to play the FedEx Cup playoffs, which begin next week at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis.
All three would have qualified for the PGA Tour’s postseason had they not been suspended, given Jones would be ranked No.62 on the FedEx Cup points list. The top 125 after this week’s Wyndham Championship advance to Memphis, then the field is cut to 70 for the BMW Championship before the top 30 progress to the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
LIV players have been widely criticised for stating a desire to play less tournaments as their reason for joining the lucrative rebel circuit, but then attempting to re-enter the PGA Tour or play tournaments on other tours.
Several golfers were banned by the DP World Tour before having a UK arbitration court allowed them to enter the recent Scottish Open.
Sifting through the 105-page complaint, it appears a strong motivation to play the PGA Tour’s finals series is to secure Major starts for 2023. By advancing into the top 30 players on the FedEx Cup playoffs who qualify for the Tour Championship, a PGA Tour player can all but guarantee a place in the field at the Masters, US Open and Open Championship in 2023.
The PGA Championship has a more complicated qualifying criteria, but it is still almost impossible for a player to make the Tour Championship one year and then not have enough points on the PGA Championship’s index to secure a start in the following year’s PGA Championship.
