Golf

Augusta National, the United States Golf Association and PGA of America have been added to the Department of Justice's ongoing antitrust investigation into the PGA Tour, per Louise Radnofsky and Andrew Beaton of the Wall Street Journal.

On Aug. 3, 11 players who left the PGA Tour to join the LIV Golf International Series filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA to challenge the circuit's decision to suspend them from Tour-sanctioned events.

Later that month, LIV Golf joined the lawsuit. As of September, at least seven players have removed their names from the lawsuit.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the scope of the DOJ's investigation is "wider than was previously known" with several of the most important governing bodies included.

Augusta National has turned over documents to the Justice Department as part of the investigation. Radnofsky and Beaton noted Augusta National is "featured prominently" in LIV's complaint.

"Augusta National representatives, the complaint says, threatened to disinvite players from the Masters if they joined LIV," Radnofsky and Beaton wrote. "The club's chairman Fred Ridley personally instructed a number of participants in last year's Masters to not sign on with LIV, it added. Ridley didn't respond to an email seeking comment."

Ridley is portrayed as having played "a central role" in the situation, including threatening the CEO of the Asian Tour with consequences if it continued its relationship with LIV Golf.

LIV Golf and the MENA Tour announced an alliance earlier this month, with the hope of increasing the exposure of the MENA Tour and making LIV golfers eligible to earn points in the Official World Golf Rankings.

A spokesperson for the USGA told Radnofsky and Beaton it "intends to fully comply with any and all requests" related to the probe.

LIV's antitrust lawsuit claims the PGA Tour has been using its monopoly power in an attempt to squash any competition and unfairly discipline LIV players.

World Golf Hall of Famer Greg Norman, the CEO of LIV Golf, met with a Republican Study Committee in Washington, D.C., last month to discuss the antitrust lawsuit and competitiveness issues involving the PGA Tour.

Per Emily Brooks of The Hill, Norman received "pushback" from members of the committee.

"Don't come in here and act like you're doing some great thing while you're pimping a billion dollars of Saudi Arabian money and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the United States," Texas representative Chip Roy told reporters about the meeting with Norman.

Roy also described Norman's efforts as “PR for Saudi Arabia—it's PR for LIV Golf."

LIV has been criticized because many see it as a way for Saudi Arabia to engage in sportswashing—using sports teams, leagues and events to distract from a nation's abuses and improve its reputation globally. The Saudi Public Investment Fund, which operates the golf tour, purchased the Premier League's Newcastle United in 2021 and has also recently invested in hosting Formula 1 and WWE events. The Saudi regime has been accused of numerous human rights violations, including the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi.

During the first LIV Golf event in England from June 9-11, the PGA Tour announced it suspended all 17 members of the Tour who participated in the tournament. It said players who participated in future events would also be suspended.

The inaugural LIV Golf season is coming to a close, and an individual champion has already been crowned. Dustin Johnson finished atop the standings and earned the $18 million prize that came with the title. But the 38-year-old now has his sights set on more.

Throughout the LIV Golf season, golfers have also been competing in teams to earn points and money. And the final tournament of the year, which is set for Friday through Sunday at Trump National Doral in Miami, will be the team championship.

This will be a 54-hole event, just like the first seven tournaments of the season. It will also feature a shotgun start, beginning at 12:15 p.m. ET on each of the three days.

The purse for the event is $50 million, with the winning team splitting $16 million among its four golfers. Each of the 12 teams will receive some prize money.

Johnson's team, 4 Aces GC, is first in the team standings with 152 points, 56 ahead of the next closest team. Johnson, the captain, is joined by Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch and Pat Perez.

Here's everything else you need to know heading into the LIV Golf team championship set to take place in Miami.

Preview, Predictions

It's not a surprise that 4 Aces GC has built such a commanding lead in the LIV Golf team standings through the first seven tournaments of the season. The Dustin Johnson-captained squad won four straight events at one point in the year and hasn't finished worse than sixth in any of the other three.

But this weekend's event in Miami will be a bit different. That's because the format is changing with it being the team championship.

Unlike the first seven tournaments, golfers won't be competing in stroke play. Instead, there will be match play taking place over the three days, and here's how it's going to work.

The top four teams automatically advance to Saturday. In addition to 4 Aces GC, that will include Crushers GC (captained by Bryson DeChambeau), Fireballs GC (captained by Sergio Garcia) and Stinger GC (captained by Louis Oosthuizen).

The Nos. 5-12 seeds will face off in head-to-head matchups on Friday, with the four winners moving on. On Saturday, those four teams will face the top four seeds in the same match play format.

That will leave four teams remaining on Sunday, when the 16 golfers will play in pairs. Every competitor's score will go to his team, and the team with the lowest score among the four squads will be crowned the LIV Golf team champion.

So even though 4 Aces GC built such a big advantage in the standings this season, anything can happen this weekend. If their foursome has a bad day on Saturday, they could get eliminated and not make it to Sunday's action.

Don't expect that to happen, though, despite 4 Aces GC not finishing better than fourth over the past two LIV Golf events. The stakes will be higher in Miami, and Johnson and his teammates should get back on track.

But will it be enough for 4 Aces GC to win the inaugural LIV Golf team title?

The prediction here is that Johnson and his teammates will fall just short on Sunday, finishing second. Instead, it will be Crushers GC winning the title, even though they didn't win any of the previous seven tournaments.

Crushers GC is poised to break through in Miami after finishing second or third in four of the seven events so far, including in three of the past four. The quartet of DeChambeau, Paul Casey, Charles Howell III and Anirban Lahiri have been playing good golf of late, and they'll translate that momentum into success in the match play format this weekend.

Prediction: DeChambeau leads Crushers GC to team championship

Anyone holding out hope for some sort of truce between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will likely be disappointed, according to Rory McIlroy.

In an interview with Ewan Murray of The Guardian, McIlroy said the feud between the two golf circuits is "out of control" and the damage will likely be "irreparable" if both sides keep going the way they have been.

"We are going to have a fractured sport for a long time," he added. "That is no good for anyone."

The launch of LIV Golf immediately caused a fracture among several players who jumped ship from the PGA Tour to the controversial new circuit.

LIV is funded by the Saudi Arabia government in what's seen as an attempt to improve its reputation around the world through "sportswashing."

Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson and Bryson DeChambeau are among the notable players who signed on with LIV Golf.

The PGA Tour announced in June any players who took part in the first LIV event would be suspended, and anyone who participated in future events would face the same discipline.

In a September interview with ESPN's Mark Schlabach, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said he doesn't see a way in which the PGA Tour and LIV can coexist.

"The answer to that is they've gone down their path and I think we have been pretty consistent that we're going down ours, and I don't see that happening. Haven't, and I don't," he said.

Given the amount of money LIV Golf has already spent to sign players, with no indication the spending will slow down, the PGA Tour has taken steps to provide more financial incentives for its players.

The Tour announced in August the addition of four more "elevated" tournaments that have a purse of at least $20 million each. There will be a total of 12 elevated tournaments starting in 2023.

Monahan also said the PGA received a commitment from top players to participate in at least 20 tournaments next season.

LIV Golf is still seeking to be recognized by the Official World Golf Rankings so its members can earn points and be ranked alongside players from other major circuits.

Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf, visited Washington, D.C., last month to lobby members of Congress after the circuit filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour amid claims it used monopoly power to squash any competition and unfairly suspend LIV players from tour-sanctioned events.

Per Emily Brooks of The Hill, Norman received pushback from multiple Republican House members among many topics, including LIV's ties to Saudi Arabia and the league not registering as a foreign agent.

McIlroy and Tiger Woods are the two biggest stars on the PGA Tour. They have taken an active role in trying to figure out ways for the circuit to maintain its status as the premier golf organization in the world amid the rise of LIV.

The latest chapter in the legal back-and-forth between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf began Thursday.

According to ESPN's Mark Schlabach, the PGA Tour filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. The lawsuit was filed against LIV Golf's financier, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and its governor, Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan.

The PGA Tour's goal in the latest filing is to obtain a motion to compel from a federal judge, which would require Al-Rumayyan to be deposed as part of another federal lawsuit involving the two golf leagues and for documents to be available to the PGA Tour's lawyers through discovery.

Schlabach provided something of a timeline to the proceedings, noting the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the PGA Tour for alleged monopolistic actions after 11 LIV Golf players filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against it on Aug. 3.

While eight of the 11 players asked to be removed from the case, Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein all remain plaintiffs.

The PGA Tour—which suspended more than 30 players after they competed in LIV Golf events without releases—responded by countersuing LIV Golf on Sept. 29 and alleging it interfered with ongoing contracts of players.

The emergence of LIV Golf was a dominant storyline in the golf world throughout the year, as notable players such as Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and DeChambeau joined the new organization despite pressure and suspensions from the PGA Tour.

Hovering over the discourse is the reality that financial backing from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund opens LIV Golf up to plenty of criticism.

Saudi Arabia's efforts in the golf world have been classified by many as sportswashing, which uses entertainment such as sports teams and leagues to distract from human rights abuses and other more serious issues.

In addition to his role with LIV Golf, Al-Rumayyan is chairman of the English soccer team Newcastle United.

LIV Golf went through with its first series of events in the face of that criticism this year, and Dustin Johnson took home the season-long individual title.

While the events continue on the course, it seems as if the legal battles will also remain ongoing for some time between the two golf leagues.

The war of words between Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson continued Wednesday, with the PGA Tour star disagreeing with Lefty's assessment of the state of men's professional golf.

Before last week's LIV Golf event in Saudi Arabia, Mickelson said joining the new circuit has put him "on the winning side of how things are going to evolve and shape in the coming years for professional golf."

Speaking to reporters ahead of the CJ Cup, McIlroy explained why "anyone that takes a logical view of the game of golf" would disagree with Mickelson's assessment:

"I guess for them to be talking the way they are, it's bold. I think there's a ton of propaganda being used and all sorts of stuff. I certainly don't see the PGA Tour trending downward at all. All the talent, 95% of the talent is here. You've got people like Tom Kim coming through [who is] the future of our game."

Mickelson also said members of LIV Golf and the PGA Tour need to sit down to work out some of their issues, but that he sees LIV "trending upwards" and "the PGA Tour trending downwards and I love the side that I'm on."

LIV golfers don't receive points in the Official World Golf Rankings because the circuit isn't officially accredited by the OWGR. Dave Shedloski of Golf Digest noted on Oct. 6 that LIV's partnership with the MENA Tour may have been an attempt to circumvent the OWGR review process for eligibility.

As LIV has tried to build a case for being a legitimate golf organization, LIV CEO Greg Norman met with a Republican Study Committee in Washington D.C. last month to discuss the circuit's validity.

Per Emily Brooks of The Hill, Norman received pushback from the conservative caucus due to LIV being financed by the Saudi Arabia government.

"Don’t come in here and act like you’re doing some great thing while you’re pimping a billion dollars of Saudi Arabian money and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the United States," Texas Rep. Chip Roy told reporters after the meeting.

Roy went on to say that Norman's efforts were "PR for Saudi Arabia—it’s PR for LIV Golf."

As LIV leaders continue to fight for the circuit's recognition, McIlroy has been outspoken about Mickelson and other golfers leaving the PGA Tour for LIV.

Mickelson was quoted by Alan Shipnuck in February for an upcoming biography as saying the Saudi Arabia government was run by "scary motherf--kers" who "killed [Washington Post reporter and U.S. resident Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights," but joining LIV was "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates."

McIlroy told reporters at the time that Mickelson's comments were "naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant." He did back off that stance in May ahead of the PGA Championship.

"He’s made decisions, and, you know, he’s had to live with certain consequences of that," McIlroy told Sky Sports. "But I think at this point, it’s like, you know, OK, people could say there were some actions, but for the most part, they were words. And I think people can be forgiven for words."

McIlroy has taken a hard-line stance in favor of the PGA Tour. He and Tiger Woods led a players-only meeting in August in which they developed a plan to increase prize payouts.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan announced on Aug. 24 that top players on the circuit have committed to playing in at least 20 events in 2023 and 12 elevated tournaments will have average prize purses of $20 million.

The Player Impact Program, which rewards players who have the biggest positive impact on PGA Tour business, is doubling its total prize payout from $50 million in 2022 to $100 million in 2023.

Fifty-four holes wasn't enough to complete the final individual competition of the LIV Golf season.

Neither was 55.

On the 56th hole, Brooks Kopepka finally broke through to capture the 2022 LIV Golf Jeddah Invitational in a playoff against Peter Uihlein.

The win is Koepka's first on any tour since the 2021 Waste Management Phoenix Open and just his second since the end of 2019.

Koepka and Uihlein finished the event tied at 12 under and played through a pair of tense playoff holes as the sun was setting in Saudi Arabia. Each facing a bunker shot on the third playoff hole, unfortunate interference from a rock sent Uihlein's approach sailing into the water and handed the event to Koepka.

Difficult, windy conditions caused a day of frustrations on the course after two relatively easy conditions Friday and Saturday. No golfer shot better than 65 on Sunday, while Koepka and Uihlein shot a combined one under after coming into the day seemingly sitting comfortably ahead of the field.

Instead, both went into No. 18 facing the prospect of a four-way playoff with Sergio Garcia and Joaquin Niemann as they faced a pair of up-and-down chances on the par five. Both managed to hit clutch shots to clear themselves of Garcia and Niemann to set up what turned out to be a thrilling close to the LIV Golf individual season.

Smash Golf Club, captained by Koepka and featuring his brother Chase, Uihlein and Jason Kokrak, won the team competition in Jeddah at 33 under. They were six strokes ahead of second-place Fireballs Golf Club—the team of Garcia, Abraham Ancer, Carlos Ortiz and Eugenio López-Chacarra.

The final event on the inaugural LIV Golf calendar is the team championship, which will take place Oct. 27-30 in Miami.

The 4 Aces Golf Club, which features Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch and Pat Perez, will go into the event as the top seed.

Johnson already locked up the $18 million individual season championship last week and further cemented his stellar season with a fifth-place finish in Saudi Arabia.

"We talked about this yesterday. I really regret my decision to come here," Johnson sarcastically joked with reporters earlier this week. "It's just so terrible. I'm sitting there last night thinking about it, it was really bothering me a lot. Yeah, just can't get over it."

There is no question Johnson and other golfers have made a massive financial windfall in the inaugural LIV season. However, concern remains about the league's involvement in "sportswashing" human rights atrocities committed by the Saudi Arabian government.

Brooks Koepka raced out to a two-shot lead following the first round of the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah after shooting an eight-under 62 at the Royal Greens Golf & Country Club in Saudi Arabia.

Koepka posted an unblemished scorecard with eight birdies and no bogeys. He's seeking his first LIV Golf victory after winning eight times on the PGA Tour.

Let's take a look at the top of the individual leaderboard after Friday's play:

• 1 (-8): Brooks Koepka
• 2 (-6): Charl Schwartzel
• T-3 (-5): Hideto Tanihara, Peter Uihlein, Patrick Reed
• T-6 (-4): Turk Pettit, James Piot, Carlos Ortiz
• T-9 (-3): Marc Leishman, Jediah Morgan, Anirban Lahiri, Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia, Lee Westwood, Phil Mickelson

And here are the team leaders with 36 holes left to play in the three-round tournament:

• 1 (-15): Smash
• T-2 (-10): Torque, Niblicks, Fireballs
• 5 (-9): Stinger

The team standings illustrate how well Koepka, the captain for Smash, played in the opening round as only four of the other 11 squads exceeded his individual score.

Koepka, a four-time major champion, was one of the first marquee signings for LIV. The former top-ranked player in the world has slid down to No. 33 as the Official World Golf Ranking continues to review whether players on the new tour should receive ranking points for the 54-hole events.

"I just hate when you sit on the fence. Pick a side. It's either yes or no. Pick one," the two-time PGA Player of the Year told reporters last week. "To not say something that's really an answer, and to say, 'We'll think about it,' I don't agree with. Just pick a side. If it's no, that's fine, we'll figure it out from there."

Although the 32-year-old American wouldn't get any points for winning in Jeddah, he'd receive quite the consolation prize: a $4 million winner's check.

Meanwhile, the leaderboard is shaping up for a star-studded weekend.

One issue for LIV in its infancy has been mediocre play from some of its biggest names. Koepka is 23rd in the individual standings, with Garcia (11th), Bryson DeChambeau (20th), Mickelson (32nd) among those also outside the top 10.

Having Koepka, Schwartzel, Reed, Garcia, Westwood and Mickelson all in the initial hunt is a promising sign in terms of building more attention for Sunday.

The second round of the LIV Golf Invitational Jeddah will tee off at 12 p.m. local time Saturday, which is 5 a.m. ET in the United States. LIV uses a shotgun start, meaning every group starts at the same time on a different hole.

After this week's event wraps up, LIV will have just one tournament remaining in its debut season: the Team Championship beginning Oct. 28 in Miami.

There has yet to be a repeat winner during the inaugural LIV Golf season. A different golfer has been victorious in each of the series' first six invitationals, which included Eugenio Chacarra winning last weekend in Bangkok.

Will that streak continue this weekend in Jeddah? LIV Golf is set to host its first event in Saudi Arabia from Friday-Sunday, as a field of talented golfers will compete in another 54-hole invitational, the penultimate tournament on the 2022 schedule.

The other winners of LIV Golf events this year were Charl Schwartzel, Branden Grace, Henrik Stenson, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith. Perhaps one of them (or Chacarra) could become the first two-time winner on Sunday.

LIV Golf features a shotgun start, meaning all golfers begin at the same time on different holes. They'll begin at 5 a.m. ET on each of the three days of the Jeddah event at Royal Greens Golf Club.

The winning golfer will receive $4 million of a $25 million purse, which has been the case for every LIV Golf tournament thus far. Members of the winning team will split $3 million.

Here's everything else you need to know about this week's LIV tournament taking place in Jeddah.

Preview, Predictions

Dustin Johnson has been racking up the money since joining LIV Golf earlier this year. And the 38-year-old could add another large sum to his total winnings this weekend in Jeddah.

Because of his performances in the first six events of the 2022 LIV Golf season, Johnson has already clinched the individual championship for the series. That earned him an $18 million bonus to go with the $12,758,600 he's earned in winnings at those events.

“Locking up the individual competition is big," Johnson said via a release, per Adam Woodard of Golfweek. "It’s an honor to be LIV’s first individual season champion.”

Johnson finished in the top eight at each of the first five LIV Golf tournaments, which included winning the event in Boston from Sept. 2-4. Last week, he had his worst showing of the season in Bangkok, although he still tied for 15th.

But Johnson is still playing great golf. He's finished at nine under par or better in each of the past five tournaments, and he's likely to be among the front-runners this weekend in Jeddah.

Another golfer who has the potential to become LIV Golf's first two-time winner is Cameron Smith. The 29-year-old got off to an impressive start when he joined the tour, tying for fourth in Boston and winning the event in Chicago on Sept. 16-18.

However, Smith had a down showing last week in Bangkok, finishing tied for 41st. He didn't shoot better than a 70 in any of the three rounds, and he ended up at four under par.

Smith should get back on track this week, and he'll likely be in contention for the win heading into Sunday.

If LIV Golf's streak of first-time winners continues in Jeddah, it could be because of Patrick Reed. He has three top-five finishes over his first five LIV Golf events, and the 32-year-old has shot a 69 or better in five straight rounds.

Last week, Reed had his best LIV Golf showing yet, as he finished second in Bangkok at 16 under par, three strokes back of winner Eugenio Chacarra.

While Smith and Reed should each fare well in Jeddah, the prediction here is that Johnson will take a victory lap to his championship-winning season and put together a complete performance in the three-round tournament.

Johnson's consistency has been impressive, and he's always capable of winning if he's within striking distance of the lead on Sunday. It will only be fitting that LIV Golf's first individual champion will also be the first golfer to win two tournaments on the tour.

Prediction: Dustin Johnson wins the LIV Golf event in Jeddah

Tiger Woods and his son Charlie put on a show at the 2021 PNC Championship, and it appears as if the all-time great will be back at the tournament this year.

His longtime friend Notah Begay discussed the 15-time major champion during an appearance on SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio (h/t Riley Hamel of Golfweek) and said he is "fairly certain" the Woods duo will play in December.

Begay also said Woods may even "surprise everybody" and play in an event during the fall.

Woods suffered serious leg injuries that required surgery and intensive rehab in a February 2021 car crash.

Since then, he played all four rounds in April's Masters and impressed with a one-under 71 in the first round before fading as the tournament progressed. He withdrew during May's PGA Championship and missed the cut in July's Open Championship.

Yet it was the 2021 PNC Championship in December when Woods made his return to golf after the crash.

Not only that, but he and his son Charlie also finished in second place behind John Daly and John Daly II and caught absolute fire in the second round by posting a tournament-record 11 birdies in a row on holes No. 7 through No. 17.

It is always appointment viewing when Woods hits the course, and it will surely be no different at the PNC Championship this year as he and his son look to put on an encore performance after last year's brilliance.

And he will surely be eyeing the title this time after coming up just short in 2021.