WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Augusta National Golf Club, the U.S. Golf Association and PGA of America are included in the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust investigation into professional golf, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday that cited people familiar with the matter.
A spokeswoman for the USGA, which is the national governing body for golf in the United States, confirmed to Reuters that the organization has been contacted by the Justice Department and is fully complying with all requests.
The PGA Tour confirmed in July it was part of the U.S. Justice Department’s probe into whether it broke antitrust law in fighting off the rival LIV Golf circuit that is being bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
But the Justice Department’s probe is more expansive than previously known, the Journal reported. Augusta National, which hosts the Masters golf tournament in Georgia each spring, has produced documents for the Justice Department probe, these people said.
The Justice Department declined to comment while Augusta National and the PGA of America, which runs the PGA Championship, did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Six-time major champion Phil Mickelson and 10 other golfers sued the PGA Tour in early August over its decision to suspend them for playing on the lucrative and controversial new Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf circuit.
LIV Golf has joined a handful of its players in their antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, according to an amended complaint that showed a number of golfers have dropped out of the lawsuit.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz, Doina Chiacu and Frank Pingue; Editing by Mark Porter and Jonathan Oatis)
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