Tiger Woods accused of 'intentionally’ evading Subpoena in LIV Golf antitrust case
Tiger Woods has been accused of deliberately evading attempts to be served notice of a subpoena. The accusations have risen in the ongoing Florida lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
Meanwhile, Woods’ ‘co-conspirator’ Rory McIlroy and former Presidents Cup captain Davis Love III have been served their notices.
Attorney Larry Klayman had earlier launched a suit against his client Patrick Reed on the PGA Tour. The LIV Golf player filed a defamation action against members of the golf media as well. Since the American Tour failed in its attempt to get the lawsuit dismissed last month, its biggest player is now facing legal action.
The suit filed against the PGA Tour states:
"Anticompetitive scheme to restrain trade through monopolization, attempted monopolization, group boycotts and other antitrust violations to destroy the new LIV Golf Tour and its players to the detriment of golf fans in Florida."
According to Klayman's Freedom Watch release, Tiger Woods is deliberately evading subpoena. Here is what attorney’s release stated:
“One of the alleged principal players enlisted by the PGA Tour to allegedly harm LIV Golf and its players has evaded the service of process”.
It's pertinent to note that the 15-time major champion has a deposition scheduled for January 13. According to Klayman, the golfer has successfully evaded five attempts to be served with his subpoena to appear in a deposition.
He said in a statement:
"Mr. Woods, like all parties and deponents in this case, will be treated with respect. However, as of today, it would appear that Mr. Woods has little respect for our legal right to depose him… Accepting service for depositions is common practice and Mr. Woods is no different than any other American and has no reason to keep denying service. Given his prior experiences with the law, this is unfortunate.
"As of today, the process server has attempted five (5) different times and Mr. Woods has not made himself available to accept service or have someone else accept service on his behalf. Stay tuned for more updates."
Tiger Woods is yet to comment on the matter. As Klayman himself says, people will have to “stay tuned for more updates” in the legal fight that involves LIV Golf and the PGA Tour.
Phil Mickelson withdrew from lawsuit against PGA Tour, while Tiger Woods stayed
The accusations of evasion from the summons against Tiger Woods come months after Phil Mickelson pulled out of the legal fight. The LIV golfer, who became the face of the controversial series’ fight against the PGA Tour pulled out of the case citing that the league will fight for itself.
Phil said that it was fine for him to withdraw from the high-profile antitrust lawsuit. However, both Tiger Woods and McIlroy remained in the case. The golfers became the spokespersons for the American circuit in the legal fight. Woods is now seemingly struggling with the complications of the lawsuit originally filed by LIV Golf players.
Also, several cases relating to LIV Golf and PGA Tour are now being taken up in court. With several plaintiffs still active, the trial of the antitrust lawsuit is scheduled to be held in January 2024.