MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — It was perhaps only fitting that a severe thunderstorm hit TPC Southwind just as a federal judge in California ruled against a motion that would have allowed three players who cashed in at LIV Golf to play for $75. millions in bonus money on the PGA Tour.
On the eve of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the judgment still resonated.
“Common sense prevailed and I thought it was the right decision,” said Rory McIlroy, player-director of the PGA Tour board and the loudest voice against the rival league. “And now that it’s happened, I think it allows us to focus on the important things, which is golf, and we can all move forward and not have this sideshow for the next few weeks, the good thing is.”
The important things? More money.
The tour playoffs begin Thursday with the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first of two tournaments offering a $15 million purse. After two weeks, the top 30 will travel to East Lake in Atlanta for a chance to win the FedEx Cup and its $18 million prize.
Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones wanted a piece of the pie and requested a temporary restraining order in a case in which both sides accused the other in court documents of wanting to have their cake and eat it too.
U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman, who had access to LIV contracts and how much the players were paid to join, ultimately ruled that they could not prove irreparable harm because they earned more by signing with LIV Golf they couldn’t reasonably win in the playoffs.
“These guys had the opportunity to go play, and just go play,” PGA champion Justin Thomas said. “You can have the cake, but you don’t have to eat it either. And they had their share of a very large amount of cake. Go eat it on your own. You don’t need to bring it to our tour.
Swafford and Gooch brought it to Memphis. They were seen off the course Tuesday evening, likely awaiting a favorable ruling from the California court that would allow them to be part of the field for the first playoff event.
And then they returned home, who are no longer welcome at the moment in tournaments organized by the PGA Tour. What remains to be determined are the majors, which are managed by separate organizations, and which have not determined eligibility criteria for 2023.
The Masters, US Open and British Open have exempted players who reach the Tour Championship since 2008.
The top 125 qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. Even without the three LIV Golf players who tried in vain to play, the field is only 120 players for TPC Southwind. Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama cited a sore neck and withdrew Wednesday morning, making him the fifth player to withdraw.
Only the top 70 after the first event will qualify for the BMW Championship next week in Delaware, and the priority for half the field is to make sure they stay in the game.
LIV Golf’s lead attorney cited PGA Tour hype in calling the FedEx Cup the “Super Bowl” of golf and the toughest trophy to win. McIlroy knows this from experience, as he is one of only two players – Tiger Woods being the other – to win the FedEx Cup twice since its debut in 2007.
“You have to put yourself in position, but then you have to really turn it on over the last few weeks,” McIlroy said. “It’s weird. It’s like you have to play consistently good golf over the course of a 30-week season, and then you also have to warm up at the end.
That’s what Patrick Cantlay did last year, winning the second playoff event in an epic duel with Bryson DeChambeau, then fending off Jon Rahm at the Tour Championship.
“I’m not sure it’s the hardest trophy to win – I haven’t won any of the others, so maybe ask me that question when I’ve knocked down a few,” Cantlay said, referring to major tournaments. “It’s more of a compilation than a single week. That’s one of the interesting things about it.
Whether it will be an open race from the start remains up for debate. Bill Haas is not only the number 25 seed in the Tour Championship to win the FedEx Cup (2011), but he is the only player who started on a PGA Tour outside the top 40 in the world rankings to win the award.
The $75 million in bonuses are distributed to the top 150 players, including LIV Golf players who have not resigned their PGA Tour membership.
That’s a lot of money, enough to distract their attention from the antitrust lawsuits and rumors swirling about who might be next to move on to LIV Golf.
“I just want to play golf and stop worrying about it,” Thomas said.
It won’t be easy. Thomas said he went to a friend’s wedding a few weeks ago. On his way to the bathroom, he was stopped by someone who told him he was a big fan. And then the conversation immediately turned to LIV Golf and how it’s going to play out.
“Instead of going to the bathroom, I went straight to the bar to get a drink,” Thomas said.
___
More AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
