Phil Mickelson is withdrawing from LIV golf suit against PGA

PHIL Mickelson and other top players are withdrawing from an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour over their suspension for participating in Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf events.

Mickelson filed a voluntary dismissal in federal court in California on Tuesday. He had previously said that he was considering withdrawing from the case because LIV is now suing the PGA itself. In a separate filing on Tuesday (Sep 27), Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Ian Poulter also withdrew.

The Aug 3 suit originally filed by 11 players called the PGA an “entrenched monopolist with a vice grip on professional golf” and said its suspension of LIV players “serves no purpose other than to cause harm to players and foreclose the entry of the first meaningful competitive threat the Tour has faced in decades.”

LIV joined the suit players’ suit later in August. The Saudi-backed golf tour offers players much larger prizes than similar PGA events but has been heavily criticised by human rights activists as an attempt to “sportswash” the Kingdom’s image in the wake of the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and its military intervention in Yemen. BLOOMBERG