Adrian Meronk reveals 4 reasons LIV Golf players are leaving

LIV Golf star Adrian Meronk has revealed the four major reasons why players are leaving the embattled league.

Meronk, a one-time winner on the breakaway circuit, spoke exclusively to Today's Golfer after securing his DP World Tour future with a win at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last month.

He laid out exactly why no star players committed to LIV's proposed 10-event schedule for next season.

The first reason: no world ranking points.

Without Official World Golf Ranking points, players cannot qualify for major championships through rankings.

Meronk himself has not played a single major championship since 2024.

The second reason: only 10 tournaments on the proposed calendar.

That is a drastic reduction from the 14-event schedule LIV ran in previous seasons.

For players accustomed to a full competitive calendar, a 10-event season offers limited opportunities to compete and earn.

The third reason: a ban from the DP World Tour.

The DP World Tour has decided to forbid its members from playing any LIV events next year.

Meronk is based in Dubai and built his career on the DP World Tour, where he was named Player of the Year in 2023.

A ban would have stripped him of his playing rights in Europe and left him in career limbo.

The fourth reason: no Ryder Cup.

European players who join LIV have been excluded from Ryder Cup consideration.

For a player like Meronk, who dreamed of representing Europe, that door was closing.

“It’s not really exciting to stay there,” Meronk told Today's Golfer.

“It’s nothing really to look forward to.”

Meronk joined LIV in 2024 after rejecting a PGA Tour card.

He was ranked 39th in the world at the time and had just been named the DP World Tour's Player of the Year.

Over three seasons on LIV, he banked north of $15 million in prize money, including a victory in Riyadh in January 2025.

But the competitive cost was steep.

He slipped outside the top 500 in the world rankings.

He has not played a major since 2024.

And when Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund confirmed in April 2026 that it would stop bankrolling the league, the mood shifted overnight.

“I think the first two years were amazing,” Meronk said.

“The best place to play golf, to be honest.”

“But the last season was a bit strange, obviously, with the news that we had about Saudis backing out.”

“Then everyone didn’t know what to expect.”

“It was a lot of unknowns.”

“The energy was a little bit strange, I would say, and that didn’t help my performance as well.”

“This year has been weird.”

LIV Golf is now on the brink of liquidation.

Private equity firm BC Partners had agreed to a $300 million rescue deal to refinance the league.

But that deal was contingent on LIV securing enough commitments from star players to field a competitive tour.

LIV failed to secure those commitments.

Key players like Bryson DeChambeau, Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson — some of the league's biggest advocates — did not sign on.

BC Partners pulled out of the deal ahead of a pivotal hearing at a New Jersey bankruptcy court.

Judge Michael Kaplan is now expected to order liquidation of the league's assets.

Meronk, for his part, has already moved on.