PGA Tour Suspension Letter Leaked to Current and Future LIV Players

The Hammer has been dropped on all current and future PGA Defectors.

Less than an hour after LIV Golf officially teed off Thursday, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan officially announced that any players participating in this first event — or any future LIV Golf events — will no longer be allowed to play on the PGA Tour.

The letter was unclear about how long these suspensions will last.

“We have followed the tournament regulations from start to finish in responding to those players who have decided to turn their backs on the PGA Tour by willfully violating a regulation.

Simultaneous to you receiving this memo, the players are being notified that they are suspended or otherwise no longer eligible to participate in PGA Tour tournament play, including the Presidents Cup. This applies to all tours sanctioned by the PGA Tour … As you know, players listed below did not receive the necessary conflicting event and media rights releases — or did not apply for releases at all — and their participation in the Saudi Golf League/LIV Golf events is in violation of our tournament regulations. The same fate holds true for any other players who participate in future Saudi Golf League events in violation of our regulations. 

Players who resigned will be removed from the FedEx Cup points list and are not permitted to play in PGA Tour events as non-members or via sponsor exemptions.”

See below:

PGA Tour suspends current and future LIV players. pic.twitter.com/lKhxo27Ida

— Eamon Lynch (@eamonlynch) June 9, 2022

Of the 17 golfers named in the letter, 10 have chosen to resign their membership and the other seven, which including Phil Mickelson, remain members.

Regardless, they will effectively be treated the same by the PGA Tour.

At the end of the letter Monahan encouraged players to press in on the history of the PGA Tour.

“I am certain our fans and partners — who are surely tired of all this talk of money, money and more money — will continue to be entertained and compelled by the world-class competition you display each and every week, where there are true consequences for every shot you take and your rightful place in history whenever you reach that elusive winner’s circle.”

The only problem with this is the players are more like contractors, not technically employees.

Expect this to play out in the courtroom.

Welcome to the game outside the game! Follow us on our Sideaction Twitter handle, Instagram, and Facebook for the latest on sports and pop culture news across the web!