LIV Golf has joined the Phil Mickelson-led antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour while two more players have withdrawn.
Golf Channel reports an updated legal document shows that Abraham Ancer and Jason Kokrak have discontinued their participation in the lawsuit.
The amended complaint, filed on Friday (August 26) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, also asserts that LIV Golf is seeking "punitive damages against the PGA Tour for its tortious interference with LIV Golf's prospective business relationships".
LIV Golf's addition to the lawsuit represents a further worsening of relations between the Saudi-backed promotion and the US-based PGA Tour, which has suspended all players who have played in LIV events.
Beth Labson Freeman, the judge in the case, has already set an opening trial date of January 8 2024.
A summary judgement hearing has been scheduled for July 23 next year
The original lawsuit consisted of 11 players, but the figure has since dropped to seven.
Mexico's Ancer and American Kokrak join Mexican Carlos Ortiz and American Pat Perez in being removed.
Americans Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Peter Uihelin, Australia's Matt Jones and England's Ian Poulter are the remaining seven players.
Jones, Gooch and Swafford were denied their request for a temporary restraining in order to play in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Big-spending LIV Golf is being bankrolled by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, with critics suggesting the nation is using it as a sportswashing vehicle to improve its image and to gain soft power.
Homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia, women's rights are severely restricted, as is free speech, and the country is leading a coalition which has carried out deadly airstrikes across Yemen since 2015.
These issues - plus Saudi Arabia's links to the 9/11 terror attacks and the state-ordered assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi - have been at the forefront of criticism over certain golfers' willingness to sign up to the series.
The PGA Tour has sought to stop LIV Golf poaching players in recent days by increasing prize money at its marquee tournaments, adding four elevated events each with purses of at least $20 million (£17 million/€20 million), doubling the Player Impact Program (PIP) fund, which is used to reward players who drive media and fan engagement, and introducing guaranteed minimum earnings.
The Players Championship, frequently marketed as men's golf's fifth major, will now boast a $25 million (£21 million/€25 million) prize pool and the PIP bonus pool has risen to $100 million (£85 million/€100 million).
The measures resemble many of LIV's selling points and several LIV players have accused the PGA Tour of copying its rival.
"A day late and a dollar short" was the verdict of LIV chief executive Greg Norman.
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For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody.
insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.
Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since.
As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport.
Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit.
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Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.
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