PGA has thrown another log in the burning rivalry between the Tour and LIV Golf and revoked the 2022-23 PGA Memberships of several defectors including Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau.
The ruling does not apply to golfers who have resigned from the Tour willingly such as Kevin Na, Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed.
According to Bob Harig of Sports Illustrated, Kirsten Burgess, the Tour’s vice president, of competition administration sent a letter to the contingent who have not yet resigned, informing them of the decision to revoke their membership.
“The Tour cannot enter into a membership agreement with a player when, as here, it reasonably anticipates the player will not perform the material obligations under that agreement. Accordingly, your PGA Tour membership cannot and will not be renewed for the 2022-2023 PGA TOUR season.”
After having their PGA memberships revoked, Mickelson and the rest of the group will not be able to participate in any TOUR events. PGA is also working on restricting their access to major championships as well after they were allowed to participate this year.
Mickelson and DeChambeau are among those who have filed an antitrust suit against PGA Tour challenging the suspensions. Despite the consequences, players continue to jump ship to the money-laden league which recently landed its biggest name in former World No.2 Cameron Smith, the current Open champion.
The 2021-22 PGA Tour season came to an end with Rory McIlroy winning the Tour Championship while the first year of the LIV Golf Invitational Series will continue with a three-day tournament at The International in Bolton, Massachusetts from today.
