DOJ is investigating PGA Tour over potentially anticompetitive behavior with LIV Golf

The Justice Department is investigating whether the PGA Tour engaged in anticompetitive behavior as it feuds with the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour, according to a recent news report.

The Wall Street Journal reports that agents for a number of PGA Tour players have received inquiries from the department's antitrust division pertaining to bylaws enacted by the tour regarding their participation in other tournaments and recent action by the tour in response to LIV.

The investigation signals that the DOJ is keeping an eye on the golf-world fight that has divided the realm of the professional sport. A spokesperson for the PGA Tour told the WSJ that it was aware of the investigation and is confident the group, which organizes most of the big men's professional golf tournaments in the U.S. and elsewhere in North America.

LIV Golf is financed by Saudi's sovereign wealth fund and is paying big money to players who agree to participate in its debut season. In response, the PGA Tour has suspended players who opted to participate in the foreign-funded competition. 

"This was not unexpected. We went through this in 1994 and we are confident in a similar outcome," said a PGA Tour spokesperson. 

In 1994, the Federal Trade Commission probed two PGA Tour rules that barred golfers from playing in non-PGA events without the explicit permission of the commissioner and dictated how they should look during televised golf programs. Ultimately, the FTC shied away from the investigation.

To this day, players are not allowed to compete in other televised golf events without the permission of the commissioner. The players who asked to play in the inaugural LIV event last month in London were denied. 

In a letter written earlier this year from LIV to players and agents, the entity warned that if the PGA Tour went through with banning players who played in LIV, it would "likely cause the federal government to investigate and punish the PGA Tour’s unlawful practices."

"There is simply no recognized justification for banning independent contractor professional golfers for simply contracting to play professional golf," read the letter.