Weser v. PGA

Weser (plaintiff), ineligible under any of the PGA's (defendant) ten eligibility categories -- primarily completing PGA qualifying school, whose available slots were tied to PGA tour openings -- sued claiming the eligibility rules for the Western Open violated antitrust law. The PGA moved to dismiss, defending the restrictions as necessary to maintain a high level of competition given practical limits on tournament size from course capacity, round-play time, private-course access, and volunteer availability.

Whether a restraint on eligibility to play in a PGA tournament is permissible under antitrust law if justified by legitimate business purposes and no more restrictive than necessary to achieve those purposes.