LIV has lured some of the PGA Tour's top career earners
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LIV has dominated golf headlines all summer. And even as the PGA Tour's season-ending playoffs take center stage, the drama isn't going anywhere.
Driving the news: Open champion and world No. 2 Cameron Smith will reportedly join LIV for $100 million after this month's FedEx Cup Playoffs, which would give the Saudi-backed tour 16 of the top 100 PGA Tour earners all-time.
- Smith has neither confirmed nor denied these reports, saying Tuesday that "my goal here is to win the FedEx Cup Playoffs. That's all I'm here for."
- Three would-be playoff qualifiers from LIV sought a temporary restraining order so they could participate in the playoffs despite the PGA's ban, but a federal judge on Tuesday rejected their bid.
State of play: With no LIV events until September, the PGA Tour won't have to share the spotlight quite as much during this month's playoffs, which begin today in Memphis.
"I think [the court ruling] just lets us focus on the important stuff, which is golf. We can all move forward and not have that sideshow going on for the next few weeks, which is nice."— Rory McIlroy
Yes, but: The threat of more players leaving still looms large, with new rumors almost daily. Cameron Young, the Open runner-up and one of the PGA Tour's best young Americans, was also linked to LIV on Wednesday.
Reminder ... Netflix has been filming a "Drive to Survive"-style PGA Tour Netflix series all season. The behind-the-scenes content should be wild.
