Lawsuit: Augusta National Reps Threatened to Disinvite LIV Golfers from the Masters

Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via Getty Images

Augusta National representatives allegedly threatened to disinvite LIV Golf players from this year’s Masters if they left the PGA Tour to join the Saudi-backed league, according to a lawsuit filed by Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and nine others looking to obtain a temporary restraining order to compete in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs.

The lawsuit reads, per Golfweek‘s Adam Schupak:

“Augusta National, the promoter of The Masters, has taken multiple actions to indicate its alignment with the PGA Tour, thus seeding doubt among top professional golfers whether they would be banned from future Masters Tournaments. As an initial matter, the links between the PGA Tour and Augusta National run deep. The actions by Augusta National indicate that the PGA Tour has used these channels to pressure Augusta National to do its bidding. For example, in February, 2022 Augusta National representatives threatened to disinvite players from The Masters if they joined LIV Golf.”

This article will be updated soon to provide more information and analysis.

For more from Bleacher Report on this topic and from around the sports world, check out our B/R app, homepage and social feeds—including Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.