Judge Rules That PGA Tour May Add Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund to Countersuit

In a victory for the PGA Tour, the PIF and its governor were added as counterdefendants to the Tour's counterclaim

The Public Investment Fund of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its governor, Yasir Othman Al-Rumayyan, have been added as counterdefendants to the counterclaim filed by the PGA Tour last year.

The ruling was made in U.S. District Court Northern District of California in San Jose by Judge Beth Labson Freeman on Tuesday.

The request by the Tour to add PIF and Al-Rumayyan as counterdefendants came via its discovery efforts, specifically the production of the Subscription and Shareholders’ Agreement and other documents that revealed new facts about the PIF and Al-Rumayyan's involvement with LIV and its tortious efforts against the Tour.

The PGA Tour filed its original counterclaim on Sept. 28, but named only LIV Golf as a counterdefendant and did not name any former players, PIF or Al-Rumayyan.

In its initial counterclaim filing, the Tour accused LIV of tortious interference, by providing tortious inducement of numerous, repeated breaches of contract by former Tour members Phil Mickelson, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford, Matt Jones, Bryson DeChambeau, Ian Poulter and Peter Uihlein (together, “LIV Players”).

The Tour also stated in its filing that LIV has executed a campaign to pay LIV players astronomical sums of money to induce them to breach their contracts with the Tour in an effort to sportswash the recent history of Saudi atrocities and to further the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s "Vision 2030" initiatives.

Over time, the Tour has learned about the actions of the PIF and Al-Rumayyan and that the two had involvement in not only funding a majority of LIV's efforts, but its deep involvement in recruiting players, and advising them on Tour contracts and how to breach those agreements.

Judge Freeman in her order did not find any prejudice to PIF or Al-Rumayyan in granting the Tour’s motion to amend its counterclaim filing and provides the Tour until March 3 to file the amended counterclaim.