Brandel Chamblee reacts as LIV Golf faces liquidation.

Brandel Chamblee has suggested that the players who were open to staying with LIV Golf eventually realized that they could not save the league, following the news that it will be liquidated.

It appears that LIV Golf will soon be no more.

After weeks of speculation concerning BC Partners and their push to invest in the league, it was reported on Wednesday that the company was ready to pull the plug on their bid to take over.

While there were some reports on Thursday that suggested that there may still be hope for LIV, it has now been confirmed that the league is shutting down.

Brandel Chamblee reacts to LIV Golf shutting down.

It is quite hard to believe that there will no longer be a LIV Golf league on the golfing landscape in 2027.

While many have written off the tour on several occasions in the past, it always felt as though LIV would somehow find a way to live another day.

However, LIV is indeed set to now disappear.

And speaking on Golf Channel, Brandel Chamblee offered his initial verdict on the announcement.

“You can point the finger at a lot of places here, but in order for it to have gone forward, you needed some cooperation from whatever players were going to make up this LIV 2.0,” he said.

“The players and player representatives, from what I’ve read, were making financial demands that could not be met,” he added.

“When you think about what the Saudis were paying these players, in essence I’d call it hazard pay, because they knew that they were going to take on reputational damage.

“They knew it was going to be disrupted. They probably also knew that it was going to be disruptive for their careers, so when you start to look at the players starting to want to take debt for equity, speculative ownership, they were going to have 52.5 per cent, from what I’ve read, ownership going forward.

“And the fact that they were unwilling to take on that ownership tells you that they did not even have any belief that they, as a group of players, could make this work.

“They all thought that they were beachfront property in Malibu, and the market was telling them, no, you’re timeshares in Toledo.

“And maybe, finally, they’ve got a slap in the face of reality.”

The legacy of LIV Golf.

As things stand, LIV will leave an incredibly complex legacy.

Starting with the positives, the league did force the PGA Tour to abandon its complacency.

Those at Ponte Vedra certainly took the loyalty of their members for granted.

LIV Golf was launched in 2022 by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF).

The league attracted some of golf’s biggest stars with multi-million dollar contracts.

PIF withdrew its financial support at the end of the 2026 season.

Losing PIF’s financial backing came as a major blow to LIV Golf’s leadership, including CEO Scott O’Neil.

O’Neil subsequently worked for several months to secure investment partners and keep the project from going bankrupt.

BC Partners, an international investment firm based in London, agreed to relaunch the league with a 17-tournament schedule that maintained the team format.

That team format distinguishes LIV Golf from traditional golf organizations like the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

But after failing to get player commitment, BC Partners withdrew their bid.

The news comes after a months-long fight by LIV Golf to stay above water.

Chamblee has been a longtime critic of LIV Golf and those who agreed to join it.

He made his feelings clear after the tour officially reached the end of the road this week.

“You can point the finger in a lot of places. In order for it to move forward, you needed some cooperation from whatever players were going to make up LIV 2.0,” Chamblee said.

“The players and their representatives, from what I have read, were making financial demands that could not be met.

“What the Saudis were paying these players, I would call hazard pay. They knew that they were going to take on reputational damage, they knew it would be disruptive and they knew it would be disruptive for their careers.

“These players were going to have 52.5 percent ownership of the product going forward. And the fact they were unwilling to take on that ownership tells you that they didn't have any belief that it would work.

“They all thought they were beachfront property in Malibu but the market was telling them your timeshare is in Toledo.

“Finally, they’ve got a slap in the face of reality,” Chamblee concluded.