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The post Report: First PGA Tour pro seeks waiver to play in LIV Golf Invitational Series appeared first on Golf.

Lawyers, start your engines!

On Monday, Robert Garrigus became the first professional golfer to request a release from the PGA Tour to play in a Saudi-backed event, according to a report from Golfweek. The decision is likely to set off a legal battle between both the Tour and Greg Norman’s LIV Golf Investments, which is staging and funding the event as part of a larger tournament series.

The Tour has promised to place a lifetime ban upon any player who competes in an event staged by Norman’s rival “startup,” which is attempting to form a rival league. Norman is rumored to have billions in funding for the new league from the Saudi government’s sovereign wealth fund, and has promised to bring any attempt by the Tour to withhold players from competition to court.

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At the heart of the issue is a battle over player rights. The PGA Tour views its constituents as “independent contractors,” which affords both the Tour and its constituents certain financial advantages, like the ability to compete in non-PGA Tour events. LIV Golf has argued that any lifetime ban imposed by the PGA Tour would violate that principle, and would come in violation of antitrust laws. The Tour’s lawyers believe the antitrust suit is without merit, seeing as banned players could still compete on other tours, and have referred to the Tour’s player-written bylaws, which allow it to impose suspensions and bans in response to player misconduct. The Tour’s navigation of Garrigus’ situation will be watched closely, as it will likely serve as the precedent-setter for future LIV Golf events and competitors.

Attracting talent has proven a problem for the new league. Many of golf’s top players — including those with rumored interest like Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau — have already pledged their allegiance to the PGA Tour. Phil Mickelson, who once appeared to be Norman’s highest-profile signee, is currently on a self-imposed hiatus from both professional golf and public life after blowback from his comments about the league.

Garrigus, a 44-year-old pro from Nanda, Idaho, has played sparingly over the previous few years, primarily in alternate-field PGA Tour events. He owns one PGA Tour win (at the 2010 Children’s Miracle Network Classic) and currently ranks 1,053rd in the Official World Golf Ranking.

The LIV Golf Invitational will be played on June 9-11 at London’s Centurion Golf Club. PGA Tour players who wish to compete are required to submit their application for release 45 days in advance of the tournament, or April 25, while the Tour is required to provide an answer 30 days before the tournament begins, or May 10.

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The post Robert Garrigus Suspended appeared first on Golf.

The post Robert Garrigus Suspended appeared first on Golf.

PGA Tour player Robert Garrigus was handed a three-month suspension by the PGA Tour for violating the Tour’s anti-doping program.

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The post PGA Tour suspends Robert Garrigus for violating drug policy appeared first on Golf.

The post PGA Tour suspends Robert Garrigus for violating drug policy appeared first on Golf.

Former top-50 player Robert Garrigus has been suspended by the PGA Tour for three months for violating the Tour’s anti-doping program, “testing positive for a substance identified as a drug of abuse.”

According to Garrigus, the drug he tested positive for was marijuana, which, as he noted in a statement on Twitter, is legal in many states but not permitted by the Tour. Garrigus apologized to his family and friends, acknowledging he failed this test “after a long period of sobriety,” and said he intends to “take this time away from golf to be with my family and work on regaining my sobriety.”

https://twitter.com/garrigus_robert/status/1109160710834216961

Garrigus is currently the 450th-ranked player in the world, winning on Tour back in 2010, and has continued to play on Tour as recently as last month. He has struggled with sobriety in his career, with both alcohol and marijuana, discussing the issue at length with GOLF.com in March 2012, even admitting to smoking mid-round on the Nationwide Tour (now the Web.com Tour) back in 2002.

“It’s not a performance-enhancing drug,” Garrigus said at the time. “They shouldn’t even be testing for it out here. It’s something a lot of people use.”

According to the Associated Press, Garrigus is the first player to be suspended for a “drug of abuse.” The Tour now publicly reports suspensions related to drugs of abuse, which it did not do prior to a June 2017 change to the program.

The latest edition of the Tour’s anti-doping policy is not available online, but the USGA links to an October 2017 version which lists three different banned substances as drugs of abuse. (See below.) The anti-doping program is updated by the Tour when deemed necessary. You can find the October 2017 version of it here.

The substances listed as "drugs of abuse" in the PGA Tour anti-doping program as recently as October 2017.

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The post Robert Garrigus leads in Canada after stellar 63 appeared first on Golf.

The post Robert Garrigus leads in Canada after stellar 63 appeared first on Golf.

OAKVILLE, Ontario — Robert Garrigus made a birdie after a rock saved his ball from water and had a one-stroke lead at 9-under 63 when first-round play in the RBC Canadian Open was suspended Thursday because of high wind and potential lightning strikes.

“Hit it right in the middle of the water, and it hit a rock and bounced over the thing,” Garrigus said about the break on the par-5 13th.

The 40-year-old Garrigus won his lone PGA Tour title in 2010. He made five straight birdies on Nos. 2-6, then birdied four of the last six holes — three of them par 5s.

PGA Tour rookie Adam Schenk was second. He birdied the first five and last three.

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