Perhaps it was fitting that a severe thunderstorm hit TPC Southwind just as a California federal judge ruled against a motion that would have allowed three players who cashed in on LIV Golf to play for $75 million in bonuses on the PGA Tour.
On the eve of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the decision still resonated.
“Common sense prevailed and I thought it was the right decision,” said Rory McIlroy, a player-director on the PGA Tour’s board of directors 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, which is good.”
The main thing? 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 players head to East Lake in Atlanta for a shot at the FedEx Cup and its $18 million prize.
Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones wanted their piece of the pie and filed for a temporary protective order in a case where 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’s contracts and how much players were paid to join them, ultimately ruled that they couldn’t prove irreparable harm because they earned more for signing with LIV Golf than they could reasonably earn in the playoffs.
“These guys had the opportunity to go play, and just go play,” PGA champion Justin Thomas said. “You can have your cake and eat it too, but you don’t have to eat it too. And they got their piece of the pie. Go eat it on your own. You don’t have to bring it to our Tour.”
Swafford and Gooch made the trip to Memphis. They were spotted off the course Tuesday night, 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 went home, no longer welcome at any PGA Tour event. The majors, which are run by separate organizations, have yet to be determined, and their eligibility requirements for 2023 have yet to be determined.
The Masters, US Open and British Open have exempted players who reach the Tour Championship since 2008.
The top 125 players advance to the FedEx Cup playoffs. Even without the three LIV Golf players who tried and failed to play, the field is down to 120 players for TPC Southwind. Former Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama withdrew Wednesday morning due to neck pain, making him the fifth player to withdraw.
Only the top 70 after the first round will advance to the BMW Championship next week in Delaware, and the priority for half the field is to ensure they stay in the game.
LIV Golf’s lead attorney cited the PGA Tour’s 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 (the other being Tiger Woods) to win the FedEx Cup twice since its inception in 2007.
“You have to put yourself in position, but you also have to give it your all in the last few weeks,” McIlroy said. “It’s weird. It’s like you have to play consistently good golf for a 30-week season and then you have to be in shape at the end.”
That’s what Patrick Cantlay did last year, winning the second playoff event in an epic duel with Bryson DeChambeau and then holding 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 won a few,” Cantlay said, referring to the majors. “It’s more of a compilation than just a week. That’s one of the interesting things about this competition.”
It is questionable whether the race is open from the start. Bill Haas is not only the highest-ranked (25th) before the Tour Championship to have won the FedEx Cup (2011), but he is also the only player to have started a PGA Tour outside the world’s top 40 to have won this award.
The $75 million bonus is distributed to the top 150 players, including LIV Golf players who have not terminated their PGA Tour memberships.
That’s a lot of money, enough to distract them from the antitrust lawsuits and rumors swirling about who might be next to defect 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. As he was going to the bathroom, he was stopped by someone who said he was a big fan. And then the conversation immediately turned to LIV Golf and how it was going to go.
“Instead of going to the bathroom, I went straight to the bar to get a drink,” Thomas said.
— Doug Ferguson, Associated Press golf writer
