“This was not unexpected,” the PGA Tour spokesman told the outlet of the investigation. “We went through this in 1994 and we are confident in a similar outcome.”
In 1994, the Federal Trade Commission investigated whether it was legal for the PGA Tour to require players to get permission to play outside events and otherwise regulate their appearances on other golf TV programs. The FTC ultimately dropped the probe. LIV Golf has been throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at established golfers to defect from the PGA Tour and has nabbed stars including Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, and Dustin Johnson.
“[W]hen you try to bluff and intimidate players by bullying and threatening them, you are guilty of going too far, being unfair, and you likely are in violation of the law,” Norman continued in his letter to the PGA Tour. “Simply put, you can’t ban players from playing golf. Players have the right and the freedom to play where we like.”
The PGA Tour is being investigated by the Justice Department over potential antitrust concerns related to its competition with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf.attributable to being financially backed by the Saudi regime.Last week, a group of golfers, including Ian Poulter, won an injunction from a British court to be permitted to play in the Scottish Open on the DP World Tour , which had similarly barred LIV Golf players from competing.