ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — The U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into the PGA Tour’s handling of its players and whether it has engaged in anticompetitive behavior during its ongoing battle with the LIV Golf Invitational Series, a new circuit being financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
The inquiry, according to player agents who have been contacted by DOJ officials, is focused on the PGA Tour’s actions regarding the Official World Golf Ranking, warnings it has issued to players who were contemplating joining LIV Golf and suspensions that have been levied against players who left by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan.
A PGA Tour spokesperson confirmed the DOJ’s inquiry to ESPN. The Wall Street Journal first reported details of the investigation Monday.
“This was not unexpected,” the PGA Tour statement said. “We went through this in 1994 and we are confident in a similar outcome.”
The agent of a player told ESPN on Monday that he was first contacted by DOJ officials about three weeks ago. His client had left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf. The agent did not want his identity or the player’s revealed because of the sensitive nature of the inquiry.
“They have launched an investigation into the PGA Tour and wanted to know if [my client] would be willing to participate in a confidential and voluntary interview,” the agent said. “They wanted to ask him about his interactions with the PGA Tour during the evolution of LIV Golf.”
The agent added that the DOJ attorneys were “a little bit like a dog with a bone. They’re on this. I expect them to dig as deep as they can because they’re all over this. I could tell.”
Monahan has indefinitely suspended more than 20 players who competed in LIV Golf’s first two events in London, England, and Portland, Oregon, without being granted conflicting-event releases. Among them are former major champions Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson.
Some of the players…
Source : espn
