LIV Golf is still trying to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings, but its new leadership is projecting confidence.
LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy protection in September after months of speculation about its future, though league officials have insisted the move is intended to facilitate a restructuring and launch a player-owned version of the tour for the 2027 season. The league's new primary investor, BC Partners, announced on Monday, Oct. 5, it had made an initial investment as part of $300 million in targeted funding to help launch LIV Golf 2.0.
No current LIV Golf member, most notably Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, has publicly committed to staying on with the league for the 2027 season as of Oct. 6.
"A war happened and the funding dried up
and we had to get creative," LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil said on Tuesday, Oct. 6 during Sportico's Invest London event in England. "We had to find discipline and come together as a team and rewrite the business plan, moving from a Saudi-type business plan to, I like to say, a business business plan."
Here's the latest update on LIV Golf's bankruptcy proceedings and the future of the golf league:
LIV Golf's next step: Convince the players
LIV Golf is still in bankruptcy proceedings, despite the recent announcement from BC Partners. The private equity company did not disclose how much of the possible $300 million it has invested to this point. This new funding is still subject to approval by the bankruptcy court.
LIV Golf said the next step in its restructuring revolves around convincing players to commit to becoming equity owners in the new version of the league. New court filings show BC Partners has requested the deadline for players to commit to LIV Golf 2.0 be pushed from Oct. 13 to Oct. 25. Golfer Sergio Garcia has also been granted permission to terminate his LIV Golf contract if he chooses after his lawyers sought more explicit language from the court in regards to contracts in a filing last week.
Under Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules, LIV Golf's reorganization plan must be approved by at least two-thirds of the creditors and more than 50% of the total claims for the restructuring to move forward.
BC Partners co-founder and head of credit Ted Goldthorpe said on Tuesday there is "a path in very short order" in which individual teams in LIV Golf 2.0 could have a valuation of more than $100 million.
"Our goal is to facilitate LIV Golf’s emergence from the restructuring process on sound financial footing and with renewed momentum heading into the 2027 season," Goldthorpe said in a statement. "Just as importantly, we want the players who make this league what it is to share in what they help build. Giving players real and actionable ownership in the League and the teams is a unique opportunity in professional golf, and it aligns everyone around the long-term success of the product for the game and for the fans."
Goldthorpe noted LIV Golf wants to be "complementary" to the PGA Tour moving forward, rather than direct competition, and emphasized its fan demographics and team golf concept.
"We're so different from them, we should be working with them," Goldthorpe said at the Sportico event in London.
LIV Golf's bankruptcy, explained
LIV Golf announced on Sept. 8 that it voluntarily entered into a court-supervised restructuring process via a Chapter 11 petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. LIV's press release at the time reiterated that its revamped format will be majority-owned by the players.
LIV Golf has been scrambling for new funding since the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, which reportedly spent more than $5 billion founding and operating LIV Golf, said it would pull its money following the 2026 season as part of a strategic shift in conjunction with the war in Iran.
LIV Golf said the PIF has agreed to provide $49.6 million in debtor-in-possession financing as part of a credit agreement within the bankruptcy filing, subject to court approval. BC Partners and other minority investors will provide exit financing once LIV Golf emerges from its bankruptcy proceedings, with the expectation of holding a slimmed-down 2027 season featuring 10 events, instead of 14.
LIV Golf listed assets of $100 million to $500 million, and liabilities of $500 million to $1 billion, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY. Its debt is spread across as many as 5,000 creditors.
The 27 names on the top-30 list with a dollar figure attached are owed a combined $64.2 million. After Rahm (owed $7.47 million), DeChambeau ($5.77 million), Dustin Johnson ($5.49 million), Cameron Smith ($4.84 million), Adrian Meronk ($4.44 million) and Tyrell Hatton ($3.37 million) round out the top six, all of them owed money under their player contracts with the tour.
LIV doesn't agree it owes all of that. DeChambeau's claim is flagged as contingent, meaning LIV says it may not owe that money depending on what happens next. Johnson's claim is flagged contingent, unliquidated and disputed, which is basically LIV saying it is actively fighting that claim.
Read more on LIV's creditors here.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LIV Golf gets bankruptcy funding boost, delays player commitment deadline
