The group of players preparing to sue the PGA Tour if it adopts the recently announced anchoring ban, set to take effect in 2016, has grown to include Masters champion Adam Scott.
Scott has joined a group including Tim Clark and Carl Pettersson that is represented by Boston-based attorney Harry L. Manion III, according to multiple reports. Manion claims to represent nine PGA Tour players on the matter.
Future litigation depends on whether or not the PGA Tour decides to accept and implement the ban, to be covered under Rule 14-1b in the Rules of Golf. The tour said Tuesday it would "begin our process to ascertain whether the various provisions of Rule 14-1b will be implemented in our competitions and, if so, examine the process for implementation." That process will likely conclude sometime this summer.
Any litigation would face an uphill battle against precedent allowing sports leagues to change rules on the fly, like how the National Football League has changed how its players are allowed to tackle in an effort to prevent concussions.
A unique wrinkle to the PGA Tour is that its players are considered "independent contractors," so they are not employees of the PGA Tour and agree to abide by the organization's rules and regulations as a condition of competing.
To read the USGA's 40-page document detailing its rationale behind enacting the anchoring ban, click over to the next page.
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