LIV Golf expected to wind down as BC Partners drops $300m rescue

LIV Golf’s lawyers are expected to tell the US Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey at 11.30am Eastern time on Thursday (16:30 GMT) that the league will wind down, Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard reports. BC Partners Credit, which had offered up to $300 million to relaunch the league as LIV 2.0 in 2027, has dropped the plan because not enough players signed up, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. Neither BC Partners nor LIV answered Reuters’ requests for comment.

A filing in LIV’s Chapter 11 case made the money depend on a “critical mass” of players committing to 2027, estimated at 30 to 40 by sources quoted by Golf Channel. A week ago the FT counted about 15 tentative commitments. The BBC reports that LIV 2.0 had co-investors and about 30 signed players, including major winners. The BBC’s sources said the timelines proved impossible to meet. Only four players said publicly that they would play: Richard Bland, Ben Campbell, Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale. Bryson DeChambeau said he hoped the league would exist “forever”.

Thursday’s hearing before Judge Michael Kaplan was meant to approve Jon Rahm’s release from his contract. It may now hear LIV ask to liquidate its assets, the Associated Press reports.

The first event likely to go is LIV Adelaide, scheduled for Kooyonga from 18 to 21 March 2027. South Australia’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, told ABC Radio Adelaide that he had heard nothing official from LIV, but “it feels like it’s game, set and match as far as I can tell”. He said the state would not lose money under its contract: “We only pay them when we put on an event, so we don’t pay for anything we don’t get.” Last month he set conditions for the event, among them keeping Cameron Smith and DeChambeau in the field.

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund put more than $5 billion into LIV from 2022 and said in April that it would stop paying after the 2026 season. LIV filed for Chapter 11 on 8 September. Its last event, in Indianapolis in August, was won by Michael La Sasso, who went out at the second stage of DP World Tour Qualifying School on Sunday.

The only route back to the PGA TOUR set out so far is the one Brooks Koepka took, which carried financial penalties. Rahm said on Tuesday that he would “probably” take the same terms.

Sources

• Golf Channel via Yahoo Sports: BC Partners pulls $300 million funding from LIV Golf 2.0
• Financial Times: BC Partners withdraws from LIV Golf relaunch
• BBC Sport via Yahoo Sports: LIV to wind down after backers withdraw support
• Associated Press via WWAY: LIV’s financial backer dropping plan for new league in 2027
• ABC News (Reuters): LIV Golf reboot in doubt after BC Partners pulls out
• Yahoo Sports: LIV Golf reportedly loses BC Partners’ financial support