Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas react after judge rules favor PGA Tour banning LIV golfers from FedEx Cup

Two of the PGA Tour heavyweights following along with many others on Tuesday are a California court ruled against LIV golfers Matt Jones, Talor Gooch and Hudson Swafford are allowed into the 2022 FedEx Cup Playoffs Round. Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas are two of the current top 10 FedEx Cups that will attend the FedEx St. Jude in Memphis this week and both have spoken out about future PGA Tour fit.

Thomas was less enthusiastic about the court’s ruling than McIlroy, but was still intrigued by its outcome.

“I’m not superhuman in one way or another,” says Thomas. “I’m just worried about myself. Obviously as a PGA Tour player and the verdict in favor of the PGA Tour, I support that. But again, I let that settle and I’m just trying to take care of myself. worry about golf.”

JT did the dub earlier this year on the podcast No Laying Up that the players participating in LIV Golf are not personal, but if there is a lawsuit it will happen. Reason? The PGA Tour includes its members, and Thomas is clearly one of them. So regardless of whether it’s technically correct in court, he feels as though any player suing the PGA Tour is in effect suing him.

“It was personal to me from the beginning,” Thomas said Tuesday. “I can tell it’s getting deeper and deeper. Like I said at the beginning, those people have been given the opportunity to hang out and just keep playing. You can eat the cake, but you don’t need to eat it. it, too.

“And they shared their fair share of the cake and ate it on their own. You didn’t have to bring it on our tour. I think we kept it and we could keep building. building an unbelievable product that has given so many of us like me a great platform to continue improving it.”

McIlroy, meanwhile, is more expectant with his feelings.

“From my point of view, common sense prevails and I think it was the right decision,” he said. “Now that that’s happened, I think it just allows us to focus on what’s important, which is golf, and we can all move forward and … not let that happen. over the next few weeks, that’s good.”

LIV Golfers will not be allowed to participate in the FedEx Cup Qualifiers following Tuesday’s court ruling. Rick Gehman, Kyle Porter and Sia Nejad break it all down. Follow and listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

McIlroy agrees with JT that there was no disappointment in players leaving LIV Golf, but rather the frustration that emerged when golfers attempted to double dip on both tours.

“I definitely have a little more respect for people who haven’t named their suits,” he said. “So yeah, I mean, it gets a little bit more personal because of that.”

McIlroy added: “I think the outrage coming from the members of this tour is that they want to try to get back here without consequences. “And anyone who reads the PGA Tour handbook or abides by the rules and regulations, it’s going to feel very unfair to them. You know, how it goes… it’s like there’s a left. It’s a long way ahead. It’s like you’ve hit the first hole, but you still have 17 holes to go. It was a good day for the Tournament and for the majority of the members yesterday.”

It was indeed a good day for the Tournament as U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman ruled that LIV Golf League golfers’ contracts were “based on players’ calculations of what they would leave and how much money players need to earn to make up for those losses,” so denying them the FedEx Cup, leaving $75 million on the table for players like McIlroy and Thomas to decide. with their match in the next three weeks.