A trial date for LIV Golf's antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour has been set - and it isn't anytime soon.
Judge Beth Labson Freeman has set the date for the summary judgement for July 23 next year, with the trial to begin on January 8, 2024. The news is another setback for LIV players, who had hoped the case would be heard as early as August next year.
At the summary judgement, it is expected PGA Tour lawyers will attempt to get the case thrown out before it reaches the trial stage. Also heard was that the lawsuit now only includes nine names, down from the 11 that made the original 105-page complaint.
Video: What is LIV Golf?
Carlos Ortiz withdrew some time after the suit was filed but the identity of the other LIV player to drop out is still unknown. The original 11 were headlined by Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau and also featured the likes of Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones.
Players who have defected to the Saudi-funded breakaway circuit have been indefinitely suspended from the PGA Tour, and it is that sanction they wish to challenge.
Jay Monahan and other Tour officials believe they are well within their power to ban any members who tee it up in conflicting events without permission and won out when Gooch, Swafford and Jones attempted to gain entry into the FedEx Cup Playoffs via a temporary restraining order (TRO).
In what was likely to be the first of many courtroom battles, Judge Freeman ruled the trio of LIV players faced no irreparable harm due to the mega money on offer on the Greg Norman-fronted circuit.
