Norman fires back at PGA Tour

TSN Senior Reporter

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A back-and-forth exchange between the PGA Tour and the upstart rival Super Golf League continued in recent days, with both sides taking firm stands on who would be eligible to play on their tours.

PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan has stated his circuit has the right to ban any golfer who signs on to play the Saudi-backed SGL headed by Greg Norman, possibly for life.

Norman responded on Thursday in a letter to the commissioner that was made public, suggesting that such a ban would be illegal under antitrust and competition laws in the United States.

“Simply put, you can’t ban players from playing golf,” wrote Norman, who heads up LIV Investments which runs the SGL. “Players have the right and freedom to play where we like.”

To back up his point, Norman cited comments from an article on the website Inside Sources by Alden Abbott, a lawyer who served as the general counsel of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

“Let’s be clear. A lifetime ban is never going to happen,” Abbott wrote. “PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan is no doubt being advised by high-priced lawyers who – if they are worth even a fraction of their lofty rates – have surely advised him of the legal consequences that will blow up in the PGA Tour’s face if it imposes lifetime bans on independent contractors who choose to associate with a competitor.”

There are previous cases to back up Abbott’s point. The NFL blacklisted players in the 1940s and ‘50s for playing in rival leagues, believing it had an exemption from antitrust laws, as did Major League Baseball. But the supreme court struck that down, leading to the creation of the American Football League.

Another point made in Abbott’s article is the penalty for violating