Unprepared! — LIV Lawyer Stumbles, Bumbles, Fumbles In Court

Can’t wait to see how The Lamest Commissioner In All The Land (aka Greg Norman, aka Snarky, aka Great White Fish Stick) tries to spin this one.

On Tuesday out in San Jose, the LIV lawyer (Robert Walters) stumbled, bumbled and fumbled his way around Judge Beth Labson Freeman’s courtroom — perhaps his greatest accomplishment that day was actually finding his way to the San Jose Federal Court building.

Yes and it seems The Lamest Commissioner (we shorten it) outsmarted himself with his strategy of attempting to bush-wack the PGA Tour with a 12th-hour filing of an anti-trust suit along with the request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) that would allow Larry, Moe and Curley (aka Hudson Swafford, Talor Gooch and Matt Jones) to play in the St. Jude Classic.

What those in attendance saw Tuesday afternoon in Judge Freeman’s courtroom was a very unprepared LIV attorney who struggled with his knowledge of basic golf info and on top of that, it was apparent he didn’t know what not to say.

Here are just a few gaffs from Mr. Walters, Esquire (aka The Bumbling Barrister):

He called the FedEx Cup “The the Super Bowl of golf.”  Seriously?

He didn’t know what city hosts the Saudi International event, threw out that it was in “Riyadh or Jeddah.”  (Obviously The Bumbling Barrister has not heard about King Abdullah Economic City).

And here’s a really good one — The Bumbling Barrister let slip the top secret about how some of the Defectors and their monies won in tournaments are “recouped against the LIV contracts.”  No doubt Greg Norman soiled himself when he heard that, Brandel Chamblee is laughing.

And this — The Bumbling Barrister refers to “The Arnold Palmer Invitational in Ohio.”  We didn’t realize that Bay Hill left Florida.

Now for a few comments from Judge Freeman:

Judge Freeman:  “These LIV contracts lock up these players in ways the PGA Tour never imagined. They are so restrictive.”   Oops, the Judge actually had contracts in her possession.

And the LIV attorney projects the LIV success, deflating the anti-trust claims and the Judge notices:

Judge Freeman:  How can you project 20% market share and yet still call the PGA Tour a monopoly? Says it’s not illegal to be a monopoly but rather it’s illegal to use monopoly power against another organization.

The fact the LIV exists and claims to be thriving harms its own  anti-trust claim, basically, an entity can throw billions around and start their own tour, which the Saudis have successfully done if you listen to The Lamest Commissioner.  The PGA Tour hasn’t attempted to stop anyone from leaving.

When PGA Tour attorneys were presenting, Judge Freeman was often nodding her head, seemingly in agreement.  She even threw out this:  She called it “remarkable” how many name players went to the LIV.  She joked that one day the PGA Tour could sue LIV for anti-trust violations.

Typically lawsuits are filed because there is “harm” or “damages.”  PGA Tour’s lawyer argued that the LIV money is way bigger than the FedEx Cup and asked Judge Freeman to look at the amount that Gooch received.  The Judge saw that number.

Tour attorney Elliot Peters presented that Moe, Larry and Curley (aka Swafford, Gooch and Jones) “made a business decision to receive money.” And, he added:  “They have made in the last two months more money than they’ve ever made on the PGA Tour.”

So basically you get the picture.

There’s fallout.

Carlos Ortiz took his name off the anti-trust complaint.

In another probable blunder, The Bumbling Barrister dragged Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley’s name into the proceedings.  Perhaps Fred will remember that when The Masters invitations go out next year.

Which brings us to “next year” — Judge Freeman set August 7 of 2023 as trial date for the anti-trust complaint.

Which brings us to the Cameron Smith rumors, which he failed to shoot down this week in Memphis.  Should he sign and head for the LIV, well, you gotta figure that “anti-trust” complaint will get even weaker.

Then there’s “The Donald” factor.  There will be more LIV events at more Trump-owned properties.  At Bedminster, The Donald turned down an interview request by Alan Shipnuck.  He drove up to Shipnuck at Bedminster and talked about his (Trump’s) distain for the PGA of America and the PGA Tour.  You may or may not recall the PGA of America yanked the 2022 PGA Championship from Bedminster and went to Tulsa.  You may or may not recall that the PGA Tour left Doral and went to Mexico City.  Yeah, The Donald can hold a mean grudge.

And here’s a little further food for thought.  The LIV guys are no longer Independent Contractors — they are contracted employees of the Saudis.  The PGA Tour players are not pure Independent Contractors.  True Independent Contractors do not receive any benefits such as health care and pension plans.  The Tour gives its “members” excellent heath care benefits and as Tiger Woods put it, “the best pension plan in sports.”  So the PGA Tour guys, are in fact, “members” of the PGA Tour and as such, agreed to abide by the Tour’s rules and regulations when they accept membership.

And one parting thought in all this hub-bub:

A note to LIV attorney Robert Walters (The Bumbling Barrister):  If you are invited to lunch at one of the Saudi Embassies — don’t go!