LIV Golf confirms shutdown as $5 billion gamble collapses.

LIV Golf is shutting down after debtors bailed and players headed for the exits.

An attorney for the bankrupt Saudi-backed league told a New Jersey bankruptcy court on Thursday that the league will not proceed with a proposed reorganization.

Instead, the league will wind down its operations and enter liquidation.

“The debtors are not currently proceeding with the LIV 2.0 plan,” attorney Matthew Williams of Gibson Dunn said during the hearing.

“Instead, the debtors are toggling to a value-maximizing wind-down in their business.”

The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes, according to reports.

LIV Golf launched in June 2022, offering nine-figure signing bonuses to lure top names away from the PGA Tour.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) bankrolled the league, spending more than $5 billion since its inception.

In April, the PIF announced it would pull funding after the 2026 season, ending its financial support.

LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 8.

The league believed it had found a lifeline in BC Partners Credit, which pledged $300 million to help pivot to a more financially sustainable version called “LIV 2.0.”

But the deal fell apart when players refused to commit.

Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, and Louis Oosthuizen were among the top players who declined to sign on for LIV 2.0.

Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed had already opted out at the end of their contracts earlier this year.

Rahm agreed to forfeit all claims against LIV — reportedly worth $100 million — to get out of his contract.

He is now playing on the European tour, with hopes of finding a path back to the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour currently has a one-year ban in place for players dating back to their last LIV appearance.

“BC Partners Credit supported a transaction that aligned the interests of players and investors, offering a credible path toward building a sustainable future for LIV Golf,” BC Partners said in a statement.

“While there was great support for the league, we are disappointed that mutually acceptable terms could not be reached among the various stakeholders.”

LIV Golf paid $15.6 million to retain seven of its executives in the months between the PIF’s funding withdrawal and the bankruptcy filing.

That sum included $6.375 million to CEO Scott O’Neil.

Such payments are not unusual for a company trying to emerge from bankruptcy, but the question now is whether they can be voided since the league is not moving forward.

The Asian Tour, which received financial support from LIV for an International Series, decided in July to renew an alliance with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour in Europe.

European tour CEO Guy Kinnings said last month that anyone signing up for LIV 2.0 would face consequences.

LIV Golf held four events in Australia, all in Adelaide, and was scheduled to host its fifth tournament in March at Kooyonga Golf Club.

That event will not happen.

A formal liquidation plan must still be approved by the court, but the wind-down process is expected to begin on Monday.

In a press release, the league stated that “throughout the wind down process, the Company will remain open to, and continue to consider, any value-maximizing alternatives with third parties that may arise.”

CEO Scott O’Neil added that “building a global platform designed to bring new, younger, and more diverse fans to the sport of golf has been the round of a lifetime for all of us.”

“LIV Golf was fun, demanding, inspiring, at times challenging — but always rewarding.”