MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A federal judge in California could decide Tuesday whether to grant a temporary restraining order allowing three golfers who left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf to participate in the FedEx Cup playoffs, starting this week at FedEx St. Jude Championship.
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world, said he is curious to see if Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford will join him at TPC Southwind this week.
U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman is scheduled to hear arguments from attorneys representing the trio of LIV Golf players and the PGA Tour on Tuesday in San Jose, California.
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Gooch, Jones, Swafford and eight other LIV players, including Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in federal court last week.
“I’m definitely curious to see what’s going to happen,” Scheffler said. “It’s one of those deals where these guys made a decision to go on another tour and broke the rules and regulations of our tour and now they’re trying to sue us, which is definitely a little frustrating . I felt this was going to happen and I know some guys aren’t surprised to see it, but I’m definitely surprised to see some guys asking us.”
Scheffler, who is the only player to win four times on tour this season, including his first major championship at the Masters in April, said the legal proceedings will not distract him as he prepares for the Cup playoffs FedEx.
“If they win, come out here and play, I mean, that’s something that’s up to the courts,” Scheffler said. “I can’t control what will happen in a court case. Definitely interested, but at the end of the day it has no effect on my preparation for the week.”
Scheffler said LIV Golf, and especially which players might still defect to the Saudi-funded circuit after this season, remains a hot topic among the club’s players. A number of big-name players continued to be linked to the tour led by Greg Norman.
“Yeah, to each their own,” Scheffler said. “I’m not going to talk about guys going to LIV and all that speculation. If that’s what they want to do, that’s what they want to do. All I’m going to do is talk about my approach. What do these guys want to do and if they They don’t go, they don’t go away.”
Over the past few months, Scheffler has been clear about where he plans to play in the future.
“For me, I think the PGA Tour is the best place to play,” he said. “My dream was to play on the PGA Tour. My dream was never to maximize my financial benefits. I feel very blessed and fortunate to play golf and get paid for it, so for me, I’m not looking to go out and do- ho. Something else.”