Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas approve decision to not let LIV Golf members into PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Rory McIlroy was paying attention to court proceedings Tuesday, when a federal judge in California denied a temporary restraining order to three suspended PGA Tour members who signed with LIV Golf and then wanted to play in the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford won't be playing in the FedEx St. Jude Championship, the first leg of the playoffs, when it starts Thursday at TPC Southwind.

«From my vantage point, common sense prevailed, and I thought it was the right decision,» McIlroy said Wednesday. «Now that that has happened, I think it just lets us focus on the important stuff, which is golf. We can all move forward and not have that sideshow going on for the next few weeks, which is nice.»

Justin Thomas, who said he was looking for updates from the hearing on Twitter, also agreed with the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman.

McIlroy and Thomas both said the ongoing dispute between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf became more personal when 11 players, including Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in federal court last week.

«It was personal to me from the beginning,» Thomas said. «It's kind of like I said from the start. Those guys were given an opportunity to go play and just go play. You can have your cake, but you don't need to eat it, too. And they got their fair share of a large, large amount of cake, and go eat it on your own means. You don't need to bring it onto our tour.»

McIlroy said he had more respect for players like past major champions Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka, who had defected to LIV Golf but didn't sue the tour or try to come back and play.

«Guys are going to make their own decisions that