Local rookie golf star swept up in PGA-LIV suit
Players in the LIV league sued the PGA Tour last year, saying it is using its clout to monopolize golf.
A deadline to issue subpoenas in a bitter California lawsuit pitting Saudi Arabia-bankrolled LIV Golf against the PGA Tour came and went.
Just one more went flying out the door.
It landed on the Palm Beach Gardens doorstep of Cameron Young, the PGA Tour 2021-22 Rookie of the Year.
Players in the LIV league sued the PGA Tour in California federal court last year, charging it is using its clout to monopolize golf.
LIV’s attorneys are looking for two years of certain documents from Young. That includes records of any possible threats that may have been made to keep Young from switching to LIV.
Threats are part of the PGA monopolistic squeeze, according to the suit. For instance, Augusta National Golf Club allowed LIV golfers to play The Masters this year, but in 2022, the suit charges, the club threatened to “disinvite players from The Masters if they joined LIV Golf.”
Even Condoleeza Rice has been dragged into the case.
LIV alleged the former U.S. secretary of state and Augusta National member tried to stop the Department of Justice from launching an antitrust investigation into the tour.
They wanted to subpoena her, too. The federal judge just said no.
Attorneys for Young have filed to block his subpoena. There’s no basis for believing Young has information crucial to the case, they argue.
Unlike marquee players Sergio García, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson, Young was not lured away by LIV’s massive payouts.
How massive? Mickelson's signing fee was reported to be around $200 million.
Though tempted by LIV, Young told reporters last year he was staying with PGA. And he expressed some regret at the animosity between the two, according to the Golf Channel.
“I think it wasn’t meant to be this hostile,” he said.
There are differences between the two besides the paycheck, Independent Golf Review founder Ryan Heiman writes. For instance, LIV golfing days clock in at five hours of golf. PGA averages 11.
Also: A shhh factor. Heiman pointed out that LIV Golf claims to be “Golf, But Louder” while PGA tournaments typically stick to library-level-quiet.
Heiman didn’t find much difference between the two on the greens — with the exception of speakers playing the occasional rap and rock.
More on Cameron Young, here. You can read the full subpoena and Young’s response, here, and here.
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