LIV Golf is officially dead after bankruptcy court reveal

LIV Golf is officially dead after bankruptcy court reveal.

Attorneys for the rebel league told a U.S. bankruptcy court in New Jersey on Thursday that LIV Golf will fully liquidate, abandoning all plans to continue as a professional tour.

The announcement came during a hearing where lawyer Matthew Williams of Gibson Dunn told the court: “The debtors are not currently proceeding with the LIV 2.0 plan.”

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

The decision ends a five-year experiment that spent more than $5 billion of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund money to challenge the PGA Tour.

LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2026 after months of speculation about its financial health.

The league had insisted the filing was meant to facilitate a restructuring into a player-owned version called LIV 2.0 for the 2027 season.

That plan hinged on a $300 million investment from BC Partners Credit, a private equity firm that signed a restructuring support agreement on Oct. 5.

BC Partners had already put in $4 million as an initial investment under the deal.

But the formal agreement depended on a group of “requisite players” committing to the league — players BC Partners determined were necessary to keep LIV a “bona fide golf league.”

Those commitments never materialized at the level required.

On Wednesday, reports emerged that BC Partners had decided to pull the $300 million pledge.

BC Partners issued a statement explaining its decision.

“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,” the firm said.

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

The pullout followed Saudi Arabia’s PIF cutting off the cash flow that had funded LIV since its launch in 2022.

PIF had poured roughly $5 billion into the league over five seasons, covering player contracts, tournament purses and operational costs.

Once PIF stopped funding, LIV had seven months to find new investors and secure player commitments for a restructured league.

That timeline proved too short.

A strategic initiative committee formed during the Chapter 11 proceedings determined that a wind-down was “the best path to maximize value for stakeholders,” according to Williams.

Williams told the court the decision to end LIV operations was “made last night and into this morning.”

“This was not an easy conclusion for anyone who believed what LIV Golf built, but it is right for these estates and these circumstances,” Williams said.

More than a dozen notable LIV golfers had publicly stated they would not join LIV 2.0.

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were among the major stars who announced plans to leave.

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

He has returned to playing on the European tour, with hopes of eventually finding a path back to the PGA Tour.

The PGA Tour currently has a one-year ban dating from players’ last LIV appearance.

Sergio Garcia also announced plans to split from the league.

Bryson DeChambeau had become the face of the proposed LIV 2.0.

The league had reportedly secured commitments from 30 players for the 2027 season, with DeChambeau as the anchor.

There were 10 additional players considering joining but had not made their decision by an Oct. 25 deadline.

Even after reports emerged Wednesday that LIV was on life support, some players tried returning to the negotiating table with BC Partners.

They were turned down.

Instead of planning for a new season, LIV now enters a liquidation phase.

The liquidation process aims to maximize value for creditors while winding down operations.

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

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

Those payments are not unusual for a company trying to emerge from bankruptcy.

But the question now is whether those payments can be voided since LIV is not going forward with restructuring.

Scott O’Neil had replaced Greg Norman as LIV Golf CEO in January 2025.

Norman had been the league’s original CEO and public face since October 2021, when he announced he had accepted the position for LIV Golf Investments.

LIV Golf’s history began in October 2021 when Greg Norman announced his role as CEO of LIV Golf Investments, with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia as the majority stakeholder.

In March 2022, LIV officially announced a slate of eight events for its first season, starting in London on June 9 at the Centurion Club.

The prize money for the total series was set at $225 million.

The league quickly attracted major names with enormous contracts.

Dustin Johnson signed with LIV in May 2022 for a reported $125 million.

Phil Mickelson signed a multiyear contract in June 2022 ahead of the first tournament.

Bryson DeChambeau, Patrick Reed and Pat Perez were also revealed as recruits at the first event.

Brooks Koepka joined weeks later after the U.S. Open, along with Carlos Ortiz and Matthew Wolff.

In August 2022, reigning Players and Open Champion Cameron Smith — then the No. 2 player in the world — joined LIV, along with Marc Leishman, Joaquin Niemann, Harold Varner III, Anirban Lahiri and Cameron Tringale.

LIV players continued to compete in major championships.

Brooks Koepka won the 2023 PGA Championship for his fifth career major title, becoming the first active LIV player to win a major.

In June 2023, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan signed a five-page “framework agreement,” effectively ending litigation between the tours and announcing intent to form a new entity.