Six-Time PGA Tour Winner Questions Legality Of Banning LIV Golfers: 'A Lawsuit I Don’t Think They’re Going To Win'

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Six-time PGA Tour winner Hunter Mahan, like most others paying attention, believes there are lawsuits and court cases to come between the Tour and LIV Golf.

Shortly after the first tee shot was hit in the inaugural LIV Golf event, the PGA Tour handed out indefinite suspensions to players teeing it up in the Saudi-backed series. Mahan questions whether or not it's actually legal for the PGA Tour to ban LIV golfers from teeing it up in Tour events.

“Is that legal,” Mahan asked during an appearance on the 'Subpar' podcast. “How do you do that?

"How do you say because you’re not part of the PGA Tour but you’re part of the Asian Tour and you can play, you’re part of the European Tour and you’ve earned the right to play, you’re now part of the LIV Tour but you’ve qualified to play but we’re not gonna let you play?"

"That's a lawsuit and I don't think they're going to win that."

It's not just golf fans and media members asking these questions, Mahan has earned over $58 million competing on the PGA Tour and even he is questioning what exactly the ground is that the Tour is standing on with its suspension of these players.

Mahan continued to go on and say that he's "happy for the guys playing on the LIV Tour" and for Tour players making their own choices as well.

PUBLIC REPORTS SHOW PGA TOUR HAS PAID NEARLY $200K TO LOBBY CONGRESS, BIDEN AGAINST LIV GOLF AND OTHER ISSUES

As for the inevitable legal battles, the first shoe seems to have already dropped in that arena with the Department of Justice opening an investigation to determine if the PGA Tour engaged in "anticompetitive behavior" with LIV Golf.

We're still in the incredibly early stages of all of this, but LIV Golf has thrown a series of surprising punches that have landed cleanly on the PGA Tour.

LIV Golf will host its third event later this week at Trump Bedminster in New Jersey.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.