LIV Golf winner reveals why top stars refuse to join the league

LIV Golf winner Adrian Meronk has explained why no star players signed for the breakaway league's proposed revamp, as the tour faces liquidation.

Meronk, a one-time winner on LIV who walked away after securing his DP World Tour future with a win at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship last month, told Ben Parsons of Today's Golfer that CEO Scott O'Neil and his executives were unable to produce an attractive proposition for players.

LIV had proposed a 10-event schedule, but players were in the dark on key details.

The DP World Tour's decision to forbid its members from playing any LIV events next year also swayed the 33-year-old.

“It’s not really exciting to stay there,” Meronk said.

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

“There would be no world ranking points.”

“There would be only 10 tournaments.”

“And then if I was banned [on the DP World Tour] as well, it would be tough to get into majors.”

“And also no Ryder Cup.”

Meronk, who joined LIV in 2024 and won in Riyadh in January 2025, lamented the league's demise.

He relished life on the breakaway league, but the mood instantly changed when it was confirmed in April that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund would stop bankrolling the league.

“I think the first two years were amazing,” he says.

“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 on the brink of liquidation after BC Partners pulled the rug on a $300 million rescue deal.

LIV bosses had hoped to rebuild after losing Saudi Arabian support and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after private equity and credit firm BC Partners agreed to refinance the league, provided it secured enough commitments from star players.

LIV failed in that mission, with BC Partners backing out of the deal ahead of a pivotal hearing at a New Jersey bankruptcy court on Thursday.

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

It was a telling indictment that the league failed to secure commitments from some of its biggest advocates, including Bryson DeChambeau, Cam Smith and Dustin Johnson.

Lucas Herbert, who finished fourth on the LIV standings after two wins last season, also decided his future lies away from the team-based tour and away from the all-Australian Ripper GC.

Herbert equalled the Major record with a round of 62 at the Open Championship this year, showing him how close he could get to winning a Major.

Now he wants more of that feeling.

“From what it sounds like, it’ll be 10 tournaments,” Herbert told the Tee It Up podcast.

“They’re telling us that there’s going to be potentially more events to play outside of those as extra playing opportunities.”

“I’m unsure how they’re going to make that work.”

“I’m unsure what kind of fields those are going to be.”

“10 events is not enough to build a season around.”

“You could maybe sneak a couple more in there, but the more you play, the sort of lower quality they are.”

“It’s quality over quantity.”

Herbert was cited as a creditor for over $1 million in the LIV bankruptcy filings, but he insists he is not aware of money matters.

Only Major access interests him right now.

“[LIV's] not going to give me enough access to the Majors, which right now, that’s the priority of my career, and that’s kind of how I formulated the decision that I’ve come to,” said Herbert.

“I’m not super caught up in how much money I play for, and I’m sure there’ll be plenty of people who listen to this will think that I’m talking a load of crap.”

“But genuinely, for me, I wanted to see my game improve, I wanted to give myself the best chance to play well in Majors and compete in Majors and have opportunities like I had at Birkdale this year.”

Deadlines for player commitments to LIV's revamped 2026 season have passed without the necessary signatures.

The league's proposed 10-event schedule lacked world ranking points, which are essential for qualification into golf's four major championships: The Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

Without world ranking points, players cannot accumulate the ranking position needed to earn automatic entry into majors.

Additionally, the DP World Tour's impending 2027 ban on LIV-affiliated players meant that anyone who stayed with LIV would lose access to the European-based tour's pathway to the majors and the Ryder Cup.

The Ryder Cup is golf's premier team event, held every two years between teams from Europe and the United States.

European players must be members of the DP World Tour to qualify for the European team.

Meronk, who was the 2023 DP World Tour Player of the Year and ranked 39th in the world when he joined LIV, slipped outside the top 500 in the rankings before his Dunhill Links win.

He has not played a single major championship since 2024.