LIV Tour Discussion Thread (*** NO POLITICS ***)

[bscinstnct]

18 hours ago, NJBigFish22 said:

After reading most of the lawsuit and a lot of the posts in this thread, I personally think this is going to be an interesting case.  A lot of people don’t think the case has merit, but when this moves forward, there is going to be a lot of discovery and that is what might come back and bite the PGAT.  Phil seems to be the 1 person who was most harmed by all of this from just reading the complaint.  One thing not mentioned is this was filed in the same court as the Ed O’Bannon case against the NCAA, which completely forced a lot of the changes currently happening in college sports.  From what I read this court tends to lean toward plaintiffs in anti-trust cases provided the case has merit.

 

In the end the only people that are going to come out as winners in this are the lawyers. 

 

I wonder what the PGA Tour counter suits will look like against Phil?

 

Phil is quoted as saying he hired attorneys to assist the new league and recruited 3 other players. 
 

As this was the basis for Phils suspension, I imagine it will be necessary, for the pga tour to demand testimony from Phil, Norman. LIV investors/board, and other liv players, to demonstrate the suspension is justified. 
 

That’s at the very least. But I imagine going on the offensive for the pga tour is an option as far as suing Phil if his actions may deem liability as contract breach and the cause of damages to the tour. 
 

 

 

17 hours ago, UncleJohn’sBand said:

The way I see it, and having worked extensively with an Anti-Trust Firm for the past two years, and in talking to them, here is how the guys I work with saw it: 
 

-The PGA Tour suspended these players for violating their Membership Agreement. There are certain procedures to get a release and these players did not. They’re suspended indefinitely, not banned. So to serve the suspension through the playoffs is a consequence. 
 

-If the tour did in fact tell companies they can’t work with LIV because they work with the TOUR, they will probably lose that unless there is an established contract in place saying “you can’t work with anyone else”.

 

-The fact that the players are bringing the suit and not LIV itself shows that LIV doesn’t really have a stand in this, and that the players are suing as “independent contractors” on almost a case by case basis. Someone like Phil or DJ might have a better chance to win than a Abe Ancer who saw the ramifications of leaving and did it anyway. 
 

-The fact that they all PUBLICLY stated they wanted to play less golf and spend more time with their families could actually hurt them, being that they are public facing LLC’s (that is how the TOUR pays the players, you can look at their 990) and now they are having an about face. This could be the “have your cake and eat it too argument” that alludes to the fact there is no monopoly, as you are reaping the rewards of both organizations. 

 

-The TOUR laid out, for an extensive period of time the consequences for leaving the tour. Someone like DJ who literally RESIGNED his membership, isn’t a member anyway, and cannot compete in the playoffs. The fact that the TOUR explained from February/March what would happen does help their case, and shows they have been receiving legal advice for some time now. 
 

 

Things to think about from real antitrust lawyers! 

 

Nice share UJB!

 

Here is your prize

 

 

[Ghost of Snead]

1 minute ago, bscinstnct said:

 

I wonder what the PGA Tour counter suits will look like against Phil?

 

Phil is quoted as saying he hired attorneys to assist the new league and recruited 3 other players. 
 

As this was the basis for Phils suspension, I imagine it will be necessary, for the pga tour to demand testimony from Phil, Norman. LIV investors/board, and other liv players, to demonstrate the suspension is justified. 
 

That’s at the very least. But I imagine going on the offensive for the pga tour is an option as far as suing Phil if his actions may deem liability as contract breach and the cause of damages to the tour. 
 

 

 

Poetic justice would be seeing Phil sued for actively recruiting players to LIV in violation of the membership agreement he signed.

[tiderider]

1 hour ago, bladehunter said:

Is the minimum for the DPwt same as pga tour at 14or 15 events ? ( I forget ). 
 

i think that’s the kicker here. If the players commit to playing the minimum, they may well get status back. But that makes hypocrites out of them all as their reasons for leaving expressed are all “ more family time less golf tournaments “.  Now they’ll be playing 29-30 events on two tours. 
 

For that reason I suspect they don’t see that as a win.  The real goal is to be able to cherry pick pga and DP tour events  in order to keep world ranking points so the LIV appears to be legitimate by showing “ top ranked players “.  Otherwise that monicker can’t be used many more months as they drop down the rankings.  

i don't see how anyone can take liv seriously in their quest for owgr points ... closed to 48 players that were cherry picked by someone based on whim & ego ... and the same 48 players every exhibition ... the 54 hole thing is bonus, aside from the other controversies ... 

[getitdaily]

7 minutes ago, UncleJohn’sBand said:

The way I see it, and having worked extensively with an Anti-Trust Firm for the past two years, and in talking to them, here is how the guys I work with saw it: 
 

-The PGA Tour suspended these players for violating their Membership Agreement. There are certain procedures to get a release and these players did not. They’re suspended indefinitely, not banned. So to serve the suspension through the playoffs is a consequence. 
 

-If the tour did in fact tell companies they can’t work with LIV because they work with the TOUR, they will probably lose that unless there is an established contract in place saying “you can’t work with anyone else”.

 

-The fact that the players are bringing the suit and not LIV itself shows that LIV doesn’t really have a stand in this, and that the players are suing as “independent contractors” on almost a case by case basis. Someone like Phil or DJ might have a better chance to win than a Abe Ancer who saw the ramifications of leaving and did it anyway. 
 

-The fact that they all PUBLICLY stated they wanted to play less golf and spend more time with their families could actually hurt them, being that they are public facing LLC’s (that is how the TOUR pays the players, you can look at their 990) and now they are having an about face. This could be the “have your cake and eat it too argument” that alludes to the fact there is no monopoly, as you are reaping the rewards of both organizations. 

 

-The TOUR laid out, for an extensive period of time the consequences for leaving the tour. Someone like DJ who literally RESIGNED his membership, isn’t a member anyway, and cannot compete in the playoffs. The fact that the TOUR explained from February/March what would happen does help their case, and shows they have been receiving legal advice for some time now. 
 

 

Things to think about from real antitrust lawyers! 

What about yhe temp restraining order and liv guys in the playoffs? 

 

Granted or denied?

[smashdn]

17 hours ago, Pmookie said:

Good Lord, they joined another Tour, GO AWAY! If a kid leaves a college and goes to play for another school, his previous school isn’t going to let him play for them on his off weeks! This is idiotic.

Quit a company, go to a competitor,  then go back and ask to play in the company softball tournament from your prior employer. Yeah. How would that work?!

Just go away!!!!!

 

But that isn't how it is has worked in the past.  A player on either the PGAT or DP Tour, with standing, could 'float" between those tours with no issues, long before the "strategic alliance." 

 

Also, players have played other tours simultaneously as well while playing on PGAT and/or DP Tour.

 

Hideki Matsuyama is another example of a player that was simultaneously playing two tours.  In 2014 he qualified for the PGAT through "non-member earnings" (per wiki) and was playing Japan Tour, and not just the Japan Open.  It is important that it was not just the Japan Open as there is a clause playing in a player's home country open championship iirc.   In 2016 he had wins on both the Japan Tour and PGA Tour.

 

Kiradech Aphibarnrat is another player who was simultaneously playing the DP Tour and Asian Tour. 

 

There is precedent where this was allowed.  I think that will become a larger point down the road.

[Robby_Hughey]

Ironic that the players are taking the plaintiff position, when all along LIV stated they would assist in the legal battle that MAY arise from the PGAT suing players. Was this their (the players) plan all along? 

 

Honest question - is anyone here actually WILDLY in favor/support/enjoy what LIV is doing to golf?

[MtlJeff]

1 hour ago, idrive said:

PGA/DPW players cannot play liv tournaments without GN's invitation.

 

But - liv players are supposed to be able to play any tournament they choose outside of liv.

 

There's no way this holds up in court.

 

I am not a lawyer but my feeling is that this is more about the PGA tour's status as a non-profit , the independent contractor thing or etc. There must be something in the language where the LIV guys/lawyers think that they do not have the ability to ban them from playing in a legal sense

 

The LIV is set up differently and probably does have a legal grounds to reject people (hence the PGA and DP being very boastful of the whole meritocracy aspect)

 

There must be something in the language. I don't have an issue with the tour "firing" guys who play LIV --But i'm interested in hearing the legal arguments

[oikos1]

3 hours ago, hunterdog said:

Would you agree that the LIV (54) Tour should also let players play where and when they want?  Rory decides he wants to play a couple, but not all 8 or 14, and then play PGAT events that conflict with LIV (54) events, you would argue that he should be allowed to do so?

No, I wouldn't speculate on that as I do not know the contract structure of the LIV.  I've said all along the PGA Tour should have done a better job of "locking" in the talent.  For whatever reasons that did not happen and now the consequences are being revealed.

 

It's quite humorous how many think it's all apples to apples.

[smashdn]

16 hours ago, bladehunter said:

Could they not get around that by saying “ ok you broke the bylaws …. You're suspended for 3 years” . Most of them would lose status in that time.  Then make them come through and qualify like anyone else.  That’s not blocking access.  That’s an access pause not a denial.  
 

Then we’d see how many could Monday  qualify or make it through the korn ferry.  That would be good comedy.  
 

i guess I can possibly see them beating a ban.  I don’t know if I see them beating a suspension long enough to lose status. I’d find it hard to believe that any business wile not be allowed to have any teeth in a non compete or for a membership if that’s the angle they’re forced to quantify it in.  We all know that membership has rules.  

 

PM has a lifetime exemption.

[NJBigFish22]

12 minutes ago, bscinstnct said:

 

I wonder what the PGA Tour counter suits will look like against Phil?

 

Phil is quoted as saying he hired attorneys to assist the new league and recruited 3 other players. 
 

As this was the basis for Phils suspension, I imagine it will be necessary, for the pga tour to demand testimony from Phil, Norman. LIV investors/board, and other liv players, to demonstrate the suspension is justified. 
 

That’s at the very least. But I imagine going on the offensive for the pga tour is an option as far as suing Phil if his actions may deem liability as contract breach and the cause of damages to the tour. 
 

 

Wouldn’t surprise me if they took this tactic.  However Phil hiring lawyers and drafting some language for the new league may not have a lot of merit, because Phil isn’t an employee and he could do as a consultant.  Now this falls apart If it is specifically spelled out in the tour membership agreement.

[Ghost of Snead]

1 minute ago, oikos1 said:

No, I wouldn't speculate on that as I do not know the contract structure of the LIV.  I've said all along the PGA Tour should have done a better job of "locking" in the talent.  For whatever reasons that did not happen and now the consequences are being revealed.

 

It's quite humorous how many think it's all apples to apples.

 

Disagree - how many of the top OWGR 25 has LIV signed to date ? If the remaining top 25 players were not committed to the PGA Tour and all about the $, why didn't they jump when DJ did ? 

[lowndes]

18 minutes ago, NJBigFish22 said:

If the tour told his sponsors to drop him, that is the damage, loss of those partnerships, harm to reputation for future endorsements, harm to his foundation taking away the partnership from the American Express championship.  Now I’m not naive or overlooking that Phil did a lot of this to himself from what he said.  

Sure if the Tour is that dumb but I think we will find the Tour isn’t through all this.  They are not a mom and pop operation.  Even if they did - is that why the dropped him?  Or is his own actions, etc.  We can speculate all day but time will tell.

 

Damages for all of these players is going to be a tough hill to climb.

[smashdn]

14 hours ago, Ghost of Snead said:

 

It's not on TV - that's the PGA Tour you're watching. 

 

It is not on TV in the US.  They do have TV broadcasts in other countries.

[oikos1]

3 hours ago, Pastit said:

Oikos misses the point re sponsors. In my experience there is huge demand upon sponsors for funds and the decisions to sponsor are not taken lightly. 
 

The top European Tour players treat their sponsors badly and they rarely  travel to northern region U.K. tournaments save in Scotland. Sponsors want a numbers commitment to their event. I’ve no sympathy for this group of players and we can see who they are clearly - mostly they’re at LIV. Surely the rest will follow. 
 

When my firm granted sponsorship we were offered Damon Hill in his motorbike days. Instead, my boss granted funds to a guy wanting to sail the Atlantic in a bath-tub. It sank in Poole Harbour just after launching.

I understand the point about sponsors perfectly.  It's all about the money.  Which you also very lawyerly pointed out yourself.

 

However, for some reason so many want to lead others to believe sponsorship is for more "virtuous " reasons.

[UncleJohn’sBand]

12 minutes ago, getitdaily said:

What about yhe temp restraining order and liv guys in the playoffs? 

 

Granted or denied?

I didn’t ask about that. I should have lol 

 

Let me go do that now! Personally, I can see it being denied because they are suspended by the TOUR, and these are TOUR run events. I don’t know how a judge can tell an organization that their own rules don’t apply anymore. 

[Pastit]

Just now, UncleJohn’sBand said:

I didn’t ask about that. I should have lol 

 

Let me go do that now! Personally, I can see it being denied because they are suspended by the TOUR, and these are TOUR run events. I don’t know how a judge can tell an organization that their own rules don’t apply anymore. 

Over here, a judge will not normally grant injunctive relief if there is a remedy in damages at trial.

[oikos1]

4 minutes ago, Ghost of Snead said:

 

Disagree - how many of the top OWGR 25 has LIV signed to date ? If the remaining top 25 players were not committed to the PGA Tour and all about the $, why didn't they jump when DJ did ? 

Do you really expect anyone to understand why each and every player makes life decisions daily?

 

Come on Ghost, you know darn well this entire situation is incredibly dynamic.  Maybe the LIV fades away in a year, maybe ten more PGA Tour guys go after the Fedex cup.  Maybe the LIV is happy with the current format, maybe they open it up to more players than 54. 

 

As long as the LIV remains an option, players will always have the option to consider.

[smashdn]

12 hours ago, bekgolf said:

 

No contract signing to be a member of the tour?  Hard to believe.  What are the membership rules?

 

They can essentially accept you onto the tour based on different criteria.  I was reading up on Hideki Matsuyama a little while ago.  He was essentially fast-tracked or conscripted onto the tour by virtue of how much money he earned playing golf in 2014. 

 

In his case especially it reeked of, "Hey, this guys is really good at golf and would be a draw for us if he were on our tour.  How can we get him playing in our events?"

[bladehunter]

1 hour ago, MtlJeff said:

 

At the end of the day though if there is demand for pro golf , then there will be a pro golf business. LIV aside, probably half the PGA tour events are pretty boring and that's coming from someone who is a big golf fan (being a member here and all...)

 

I like some of the aspects of LIV. I actually wrote for this website 6-7 years ago that i wish the PGA tour would adopt more different styles of tournaments, maybe more that had a team element, an allstar weekend , blah blah. Stuff so that everything beyond the Majors and WGCs wasn't so mundane.

 

The PGA tour beating everyone over the head with terms like "meritocracy" and "tradition" and etc....I think they have poor leadership and are missing the point. Pro golf is a business. League's like the NBA figured that out, they don't care about the tradition of FIBA or anything else. They want people to watch.

 

I don't know that the PGA has really done much of anything to make the product more interesting. Maybe LIV will compel some of that. I don't see the tour just folding

I suppose. But if I’m honest I don’t really agree. I don’t find any pro golf boring. Some just extra exciting. I record and watch it all.  And pyrotechnics, team names and walk on music will make me watch less. Not more.  
 

But to your point. I’m again opposite , Just like the nba and mlb.  I won’t watch.  You couldn’t have found a larger Chicago cubs fan than me in the 90s.  And if you know baseball that’s like being a proud browns fan.  I was hard core.  Same with basketball. And then they both changed.  And I couldn’t stomach the no defense basketball or the 26 pitchers a night baseball.   I don’t watch the finals I can’t watch the all star games. Those two games are dead to me at the pro level.  Golf will be the same.  Reason why ?  They’re not the same games now.  At all.  The reasons I liked each died.  
 

i don’t think I’m the only one. And I think with golf.  They’re 30 years premature at least. The largest demographic in golf is older than me at 42 . 

Edited August 4, 2022 by bladehunter

[oikos1]

1 hour ago, idrive said:

PGA/DPW players cannot play liv tournaments without GN's invitation.

 

But - liv players are supposed to be able to play any tournament they choose outside of liv.

 

There's no way this holds up in court.

LIV isn't suing the PGA Tour.  PGA Tour players who have been suspended by the PGA Tour are suing the PGA Tour.

[smashdn]

21 minutes ago, Robby_Hughey said:

Honest question - is anyone here actually WILDLY in favor/support/enjoy what LIV is doing to golf?

 

 

I have played roughly 10 rounds since LIV started.  I have noticed no change to golf.

 

Now if you want to ask what LIV is exposing in the PGAT or changing in professional golf, I can go along with that.  If the PGAT now falls apart or fails, in my mind, it is on them as even prior to LIV, any 10-12 players could have quit the PGAT.  What LIV has provided is an avenue to competition.  Competition for both players and for viewers.

 

If the PGAT goes back and improves it's product to make it more attractive to both players and viewers then that is a win in my book.  If they stubbornly dig in their heels and wither on the vine then they get what they deserve.

[bladehunter]

24 minutes ago, smashdn said:

 

PM has a lifetime exemption.

Right.  And he may be able to win status back. But after a suspension.  His status won’t blanket the rest though. 

[betarhoalphadelta]

11 hours ago, lowndes said:

Well I wasted my afternoon reading the complaint.  I found it interesting but was pretty surprised that there wasn’t more to it other than certain factual statements we had not seen before.  Like I said earlier the players have excellent counsel and who I believe is the lead attorney is exceptional.  I thought there would be more legal substance to it than there was.  I also found some of the cherry picking of facts and random dates a bit out of the ordinary.

 

Will be interested to follow along as this progresses.

 

11 hours ago, mokedaddy said:

Having been around the PGA tour my whole life I’m very much looking forward to discovery.  You hear a lot of rumors around so it will be interesting to see what is exposed.

 

57 minutes ago, Danielson said:

 

I'm not a lawyer but I don't understand the lawsuit at all considering it's coming from the players and not from LIV. A lot of the evidence presented seems like it applies more to LIV calling the PGA Tour a monopoly. Claims that the PGA Tour told vendors they'd be blacklisted if they worked with LIV seems like a suit that Greg Norman would bring, not that Phil and Bryson would bring.

 

For the players it seems pretty clearly not a monopoly if they were able to leave and get paid out like 10X their previous winnings?

 

Agreed with the above... A few notes:

 

• This absolutely feels like so much is written from the POV of LIV Golf despite LIV not actually being a party to the lawsuit. It will be hard to show significant damages to the players for violating the Conflicting Event and Media Rights releases, given that they deliberately chose to leave and not only have received large guaranteed money contracts, but in only 3 events have won significant purse or team winnings too. 
• The one area that has teeth is the Media Rights issue. Conceivably, this has caused LIV serious harm because no broadcaster wants to touch it if they might get sued by the PGAT for airing content they don't have the rights to. However, again this is confusing because it is LIV Golf, not the players who left, who are harmed by this inability to secure broadcasters, and LIV Golf is not a party to the lawsuit. 
• The goal for LIV Golf is to pull the teeth out of PGAT restrictions because they know they have difficulty competing in an "us vs them" choice of being 100% LIV or 100% PGAT. LIV was forced into these large guaranteed contracts (per the filing) because they had to compensate players greatly for taking a risk with LIV. However to rely on the players in this case would require showing damages. Many of these players (Perez, Phil) have publicly badmouthed how badly the PGAT mistreats them. Others have said that they want to play less golf for more money. They've all publicly professed how happy they are with LIV. It will be interesting in depositions when they're asked why they want to now play more golf, for less money, on a tour which mistreats them and made them so miserable that they left?
• The filing is long on accusations of collusion and the PGAT "threatening" or "leaning on" other parties to do their bidding, and short on evidence. My thought is that they want to stir up the media pot, hope to get to discovery, and actually find out whether there is evidence to support these accusations. 

 

And a couple random thoughts:

 

• Gooch apparently said recently that he only intended to play one tournament and was absolutely shocked that the tour suspended him, but once they did, he was forced to be all-in on LIV. In the filing, it was clear that Davis Love III told him he'd be suspended and then another Tour official told him via text that he'd be banned for life. So it's not like he went into this blind, as he represented to the media.
• GN makes it sound like he's beating top players back with sticks who all want to join LIV and it's a closed shop for 2023... But at the same time the filing makes it clear that the threat of suspensions/bans for players is what drove LIV to be forced into paying large guaranteed contracts, and that it is making players unlikely or unwilling to leave. So it sounds like that was BS from GN. Which is what we all believed anyway, but the filing definitely takes the wind out of that statement from GN. 

 

That's my $0.02 anyway. 

 

The goal here is to get a preliminary injunction and get those players into the FEC, which will embolden more players (who think they can now get away with it legally) to jump ship for the rest of the fall while this all gets sorted out. Therefore, even if LIV ultimately loses this lawsuit, if they can actually get a short-term win by getting these players back into the FEC, it can help them become established enough to get a critical mass of top-shelf players on board. 

 

Also remember, I am not a lawyer lol 😉 

 

 

[bladehunter]

6 minutes ago, smashdn said:

 

 

I have played roughly 10 rounds since LIV started.  I have noticed no change to golf.

 

Now if you want to ask what LIV is exposing in the PGAT or changing in professional golf, I can go along with that.  If the PGAT now falls apart or fails, in my mind, it is on them as even prior to LIV, any 10-12 players could have quit the PGAT.  What LIV has provided is an avenue to competition.  Competition for both players and for viewers.

 

If the PGAT goes back and improves it's product to make it more attractive to both players and viewers then that is a win in my book.  If they stubbornly dig in their heels and wither on the vine then they get what they deserve.

So what changes do you want to see happen to The tour ?  

Edited August 4, 2022 by bladehunter

[NJBigFish22]

18 minutes ago, lowndes said:

Sure if the Tour is that dumb but I think we will find the Tour isn’t through all this.  They are not a mom and pop operation.  Even if they did - is that why the dropped him?  Or is his own actions, etc.  We can speculate all day but time will tell.

 

Damages for all of these players is going to be a tough hill to climb.

Agree, you wouldn’t think the tour is that dumb, but you never know what was sent or told when emotion is brought into it.  But I’m sure there is some communication in hand which Phil May have.  Example, Workday May have told him we need to end our relationship because the tour told us we won’t be a sponsor any longer.

 

We wont know anything until the lawyers done presenting thousands of items in discovery, all while making millions.

[Oneput]

LIV players suit demands trial by jury. It will take years/ages (not a lawyer) to get resolve in the courts. Will a judge grant temporary relief for banned LIV players to continue participating remaining Tour events?

[idrive]

1 hour ago, idrive said:

PGA/DPW players cannot play liv tournaments without GN's invitation.

 

But - liv players are supposed to be able to play any tournament they choose outside of liv.

 

There's no way this holds up in court.

 

10 minutes ago, oikos1 said:

LIV isn't suing the PGA Tour.  PGA Tour players who have been suspended by the PGA Tour are suing the PGA Tour.

 

Exactly. The players want a one way street. They think they're entitled to play in the other players tour (PGAT) but those players can't play in theirs (liv).

 

Wonder what happens when they try and serve MBS a subpoena... 

 

 

[smashdn]

1 minute ago, bladehunter said:

So what changes do you want to see happen to The tour ?  

 

Most were mentioned in the other thread.  

 

I absolutely hate the "playing through" or "live look in" mess where they split the screen and show a commercial and golf.  I don't need the human interest crap.  I don't remember what broadcast this was on but one of the announcers mentioned that the player's sister was a golf course super back in BFE Falls wherever and was likely watching her brother.  He then sank the putt and the announcer mentioned that she and her two cats, and he named them by name, were jumping for joy.  Really?  They dig that deep to get to the names of the sister's cats and mention it in a broadcast.

 

More golf and less announcer talk.  The only things I need to hear are the situation, yardage, for what and on what hole, the on-course can tell me the club.  Otherwise "let the moment breathe." Mic the caddies more.  I like that discussion.  It shows me something of the decision-making process.  Sometimes that is infuriating, sometimes I learn something.  

 

More hole dissections and more strategy talk would be fine.  Let me know how the architect may have intended the hole to play or what options the hole gives the player off the tee and then let me watch the shots be hit.

 

In short, more golf shots and more golf related talk.  Less human interest junk and less idle banter.  If your mouth is moving it better be telling me something I need or want to know about the golf being played.  No fluff.

[NJBigFish22]

1 minute ago, Oneput said:

LIV players suit demands trial by jury. It will take years/ages (not a lawyer) to get resolve in the courts. Will a judge grant temporary relief for banned LIV players to continue participating remaining Tour events?

Since there was 1 granted in Europe, they may issue 1, but it all depends on the court if they feel the case has merit, and like I mentioned earlier this was filed in a favorable jurisdiction, on purpose.

[aus10KC]

34 minutes ago, smashdn said:

 

But that isn't how it is has worked in the past.  A player on either the PGAT or DP Tour, with standing, could 'float" between those tours with no issues, long before the "strategic alliance." 

 

Also, players have played other tours simultaneously as well while playing on PGAT and/or DP Tour.

 

Hideki Matsuyama is another example of a player that was simultaneously playing two tours.  In 2014 he qualified for the PGAT through "non-member earnings" (per wiki) and was playing Japan Tour, and not just the Japan Open.  It is important that it was not just the Japan Open as there is a clause playing in a player's home country open championship iirc.   In 2016 he had wins on both the Japan Tour and PGA Tour.

 

Kiradech Aphibarnrat is another player who was simultaneously playing the DP Tour and Asian Tour. 

 

There is precedent where this was allowed.  I think that will become a larger point down the road.

 

Those are good points, but I would counter in that those other tours were on different continents and have a different market than the PGAT. Whereas LIV has encroached on PGAT territory holding events opposite of PGAT events. Nothing stopping LIV from doing that, but don't expect the PGAT to play nice guy with the players who are not supporting the PGAT.