Bryson DeChambeau is back in the news this week, both for his play and for his legal maneuvers. DeChambeau was the first-round leader of the PGA Championship, held at Oak Hill in Rochester, N.Y. He is also the latest (and last) LIV golfer to officially withdraw from the antitrust lawsuit waged against the PGA Tour.
DeChambeau’s legal representation filed documents with the Northern District court of California Thursday that stipulate his interest (as well as that of fellow LIV golfer Matt Jones) to withdraw from the suit. DeChambeau was initially one of 11 player plaintiffs who filed the suit, once known as Mickelson et al vs. PGA Tour.
DeChambeau’s reasoning for entering the suit was simple. He explained to ESPN in October that he had not been paid the second half of his PIP earnings from 2021, when he finished fifth in the season-long competition that pays out for the most impactful players on the PGA Tour.
“It’s not about the money; it’s about the principle,” DeChambeau told Mark Schlabach of ESPN. “It’s the way you deal with situations.”
That principle kept DeChambeau involved with the suit longer than just about anyone else. But at some point, the lawsuit took on different meaning than disgruntled players against the Tour they used to compete on. Instead, it became what it is now: LIV Golf vs. the PGA Tour.
In the first two months after the initial complaint was filed, LIV was added as a plaintiff and slowly but surely player plaintiffs began dropping off. First was Carlos Ortiz, Pat Perez, Abe Ancer and Jason Kokrak. Then, in late September, the star plaintiff, Phil Mickelson, was part of a group of four who withdrew.
“With LIV’s involvement in these issues, the players’ rights will be protected, and I no longer feel it is necessary for me to be part of the proceedings,” Mickelson said.
For more than six months, there was no change, until Peter Uihlein withdrew on May 4. Then, as reported by Adam Schupak of Golfweek, DeChambeau and Jones had made their minds up a week ago.
“Bryson wants to solely focus on competing at the highest level week in and week out,” DeChambeau’s agent Brett Falkoff told Schupak. ”He will continue to support the growth of golf and its expansion on a global scale, contributing both on and off the course as a positive influence on the game.”
Thus brings us forward for both DeChambeau the golfer and the news cycle that surrounds him. Or so it seems. The discussion on DeChambeau this week has turned back to his birdies and bogeys, of which there were six of the former and only two of the latter Thursday.
As for the lawsuit, it continues to move extremely slowly through discovery. The PGA Tour is keen to depose Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, but LIV Golf is fighting to keep Al-Rumayyan’s involvement to a minimum. He has been included as a defendant in that countersuit the PGA Tour filed for tortious interference against LIV. The Tour is scheduled to depose various players in the coming weeks as part of its discovery process. DeChambeau is expected to be among them, despite withdrawing his name from the suit.
