LIV Golf to wind down after five years of rebel league

LIV Golf is closing down after losing the financial support it had hoped to secure from BC Partners to keep the league afloat.

The breakaway men's golf league lasted five years but fell into financial trouble earlier this year when Saudi Arabia withdrew its financial backing.

Instead of launching a new version in 2027, LIV is entering a liquidation phase.

LIV Golf, the breakaway rebel golf league spearheaded by Australian Greg Norman, will collapse after five years, with a bankruptcy court hearing it plans to wind down operations rather than launch a new version due to a lack of support.

LIV Golf, which launched in June 2022 by offering nine-figure signing bonuses to lure top names away from the PGA Tour, lost Saudi Arabian funding in April after spending more than $US5 billion ($7 billion).

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

"The debtors are not currently proceeding with the LIV 2.0 plan," lawyer Matthew Williams of Gibson Dunn said during a hearing in New Jersey. "Instead, the debtors are toggling to a value-maximising wind-down in their business."

LIV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 8 and thought it had a lifeline in BC Partners Credit, which pledged a $US300 million investment to pivot to a more financially sustainable "LIV 2.0". But players like Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton, and Louis Oosthuizen were not interested.

"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."

Instead of planning for a new version for 2027, LIV is entering a liquidation phase.

Rahm already agreed to forfeit all claims against LIV — said to be worth some $100 million — to get out of his contract. He is back on the European Tour, hoping there will be a path back to the PGA Tour. The tour currently has a one-year ban in place for players dating back to their last LIV appearance.

LIV Golf paid $US15.6 million to retain seven of its executives, including $US6.375 million to chief executive Scott O'Neil, in the months between the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and LIV filing for bankruptcy. Those payments are not unusual for a company trying to emerge from bankruptcy. The question now is whether those payments can be voided given that LIV is not going forward.

LIV suffered two big setbacks, both before and after filing for bankruptcy.

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

Then, European Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings last month said anyone signing up for LIV 2.0 need not apply for membership on the tour, which put European players at risk of having no part in the Ryder Cup.

But the biggest setback was in April, two weeks after the Masters and two months after the start of the Iran war. PIF changed its investment strategy and said it would no longer pay for LIV Golf after the 2026 season.

LIV was originally run by Greg Norman, who tried unsuccessfully to start a world tour in 1994 only to have it quashed by Arnold Palmer and the PGA Tour. Norman had Saudi money at his disposal and promoted LIV as "Golf, but louder" with blaring music, 54-hole shotgun starts and $US25 million in prize funds — individual and team — at each event.

But it had no broadcast deal the first year, meaning it had to cover production costs. It got the CW Network in 2023, and eventually got Fox Sports to sign on in 2025.

The year began with Brooks Koepka getting out of his LIV deal with one year remaining, and the PGA Tour created a path — with financial penalties — to return. Patrick Reed chose not to extend his deal and is now poised to return to the PGA Tour next year through his performance in Europe.

Rahm had said on Tuesday he would be willing to pay the same price as Koepka, though it was unlikely that same deal would be offered.

LIV 2.0 was pushing player equity and prize money that was more than half the $US20 million purses for individuals when it began in 2022. LIV's final event was in August in Indianapolis, won by Michael La Sasso. He failed to get through the second stage of European Tour Q-School last week.