U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan van Keulen denied arguments by PIF that Al-Rumayyan and the relevant documents were protected on sovereign immunity grounds.Judge van Keulen said in a 58-page ruling in the U.S. District Court for Northern California that Al-Rumayyan's status as agent of a foreign government was within a commercial exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act.PIF lawyers claimed Al-Rumayyan didn't deal with the daily operations of LIV golf.
Mickelson led a group of eight golfers who have since removed their names from the lawsuit, with only Bryson DeChambeau, Matt Jones and Peter Uihlein remaining as plaintiffs. PIF lawyers quickly filed an appeal of van Keulen’s ruling. U.S. District Court Judge Beth Labson Freeman has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 24.