The five-year experiment of a Saudi-backed golf league meant to challenge the PGA Tour is coming to an end, as LIV Golf announced it could not secure the funding to continue.
"The debtors are not currently proceeding with the LIV 2.0 plan," attorney Matthew Williams of Gibson Dunn said at a bankruptcy court in Trenton, New Jersey. “Instead, the debtors are toggling to a value-maximizing wind-down in their business.”
The league lost its funding in April, after the Public Investment Fund poured more than $5 billion into the venture since its 2022 launch.
Once the money went away, top LIV players began defecting, including Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, even though the purse money for the 2026 tournaments ballooned to $30
million at each event.
Here are some key dates in the short history of LIV Golf:
LIV Golf timeline
October 2021: Greg Norman, a two-time major golf champion, is announced as LIV Golf CEO, as the league formally launches.
June 9, 2022: PGA Commissioner Jay Monahan announces that any players participating in LIV Golf's inaugural event in England are suspended from PGA Tour-sanctioned events. Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Dustin Johnson, Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter are included. Major champions Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka later joined LIV Golf.
June 11, 2022: LIV Golf holds its first tournament at the Centurion Club in Hemel Hempstead, England. The event is won by Charl Schwartzel.
Aug. 2, 2022: 11 LIV golfers, including Mickelson and DeChambeau, file a lawsuit against the PGA Tour challenging their PGA Tour suspensions.
Dec. 20, 2022: Augusta National, the home of the Masters tournament, says it will allow LIV players to participate in the tournament.
May 21, 2023: Brooks Koepka wins the PGA Championship by two strokes over Scottie Scheffler, becoming the first LIV golfer to secure a major championship.
June 6, 2023: The PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi PIF announce a framework agreement to combine commercial golf interests.
2024: LIV Golf expands to 13 teams and 54 players.
Jan. 15, 2025: Scott O'Neil replaces Greg Norman as LIV Golf CEO.
Feb. 5, 2025: FOX Sports and LIV Golf announce a multi-year media rights agreement.
Nov. 4, 2025: LIV announces that its tournaments will move from 54 to 72 holes beginning in 2026.
Jan. 9, 2026: Brooks Koepka leaves LIV Golf and applies for reinstatement to the PGA Tour.
April 2026: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announces it will end funding for LIV Golf after the 2026 season.
Aug. 5, 2026: CEO Scott O'Neil says LIV Golf has secured funding to keep the league alive.
Aug. 23, 2026: Michael La Sasso wins the final LIV Golf tournament at The Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Indiana.
Sept. 8, 2026: LIV Golf files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey.
Nov. 5, 2026: LIV Golf says it will wind down operations as it lacks support for a 2.0 model, with plans to file a new Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LIV Golf turned the golf world upside down. Then it crashed and burned
