As Tiger Woods fights to return to the golf course amid his continued struggles with injuries, it sounds like he is now facing a pretty significant legal battle.
Attorney Larry Klayman has brought an antitrust suit against the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, Official World Golf Ranking, and high-profile golfers such as Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy alleging that they colluded to restrain competition from the rival LIV Golf League.
That case was thrown out in 2022, but Klayman is now arguing that the cause was fraudulently thrown out, claiming that the judge threw out the case to “avoid exposing Woods’ illegal conduct to the public,” Klayman said in a statement according to Golf Magic.
“In our country no one is above the law, even a golfing icon who admirably broke the racial barriers in the golfing world, Tiger Woods, who not coincidentally is a Florida citizen.
“This new case is regrettably a testament to the compromised state of our legal system, where fraudulent representations by defendants and their lawyers who are powerful in size, financially and have political and other connections, can influence if not coerce a judge to accept their false statements to avoid a detrimental backlash which could affect his standing and judicial career.”
“I had to think hard before filing on principle this very strong case, at the expense of offending the otherwise likeable judge Delgado, who sadly acquiesced to the alleged fraud on his court thereby shirking his ethical and legal responsibilities.
“Rather I intend to put paramount adherence to the rule law, as I want to ‘Make Professional Golf Great Again,’ for golf fans and consumers such as me, who, like our 45th and now 47th president, love the game and want to see real competition flourish for the benefit of all.”
We’ll have to see whether or not Klayman’s latest legal challenge is successful.
Woods, meanwhile, recently confirmed that he will not play in the forthcoming PGA Tour event he hosts annually in the Bahamas.