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About 15 players tentatively sign for LIV 2.0 as PIF's cut-off nears
About 15 players have tentatively agreed to join LIV 2.0, the Financial Times reports. BC Partners wants 30 to 40, and PIF's loan terms give the league until Friday.
LIV Golf’s Sunday deadline for players to commit to its relaunch passed without the league naming who had signed. Sujeet Indap of the Financial Times reported on X that about 15 golfers had tentatively agreed to join LIV 2.0. “LIV 2.0 lives for a few more days,” he wrote.
According to Indap, none of the 15 is among the players negotiating through lawyers: 18 are represented by Weil, Gotshal & Manges and five by Reed Smith. BC Partners Credit, which has promised up to $300 million, has asked for 30 to 40 commitments. Its plan is a 17-event team league in which the players would own a slim majority. Sunday’s deadline was tied to the first $4 million of that financing. PIF, LIV’s senior lender, has set Friday 30 October as the cut-off in the terms of its loan and will start winding the league down if there is no deal by then, the New York Post reports.
A separate group of more than ten players, led by Dustin Johnson and including Bubba Watson and Thomas Detry, wants severance from PIF, The Athletic reports. Its claims come to more than $100 million, and PIF’s first offer was 2 cents on the dollar for unpaid contracts. Johnson’s lawyer, David Cornwell, said the players made “career-altering decisions” on the strength of PIF’s promises. None of the group is expected to sign the restructuring agreement as it stands, according to Golfweek.
Four players have said publicly that they will play LIV 2.0: Richard Bland, Ben Campbell, Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale. Since the league filed for Chapter 11 on 8 September, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter and David Puig have said they are leaving.
Sources
- EssentiallySports: LIV Golf 2.0 gets lifeline as 15 players tentatively commit
- New York Post via Yahoo Sports: LIV Golf 2.0 gets encouraging number of tentative player commitments
- Golfweek via Yahoo Sports: Dustin Johnson-led LIV group seeks severance payments from PIF
- Heavy: LIV Golf stars band together with demand for PIF
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