LIV Golf files for bankruptcy protection

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — LIV Golf, the breakaway tour that spent billions of dollars luring top players away from the PGA and triggered bitter divisions within the sport, filed Tuesday for bankruptcy protection.

The filing at a New Jersey court indicates LIV, which abruptly lost its deep-pocketed Saudi investors earlier this year, intends to restructure and return in a new form.

But documents show LIV owes between $500 million and $1 billion in estimated liabilities to at least 1,000 creditors, including star players like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.

And the future of those popular players remains deeply unclear. The likes of DeChambeau are now faced with deciding whether to remain with the tour in its new guise or leave and attempt to pursue the millions of dollars they are owed in court.

“This process gives us the structure and time to pursue a landmark transaction and begin the next chapter of LIV Golf,” CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement.

LIV still intends to return next year in a new form including “an innovative, player-first ownership model,” he said.

“No definitive decisions regarding the 2027 schedule or individual events are being announced at this time,” the LIV statement added.

The bankruptcy filing was widely expected, after LIV axed the majority of its staff earlier this month and scrapped its season-ending team championship in August after losing the backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Since LIV’s launch in 2022, the Middle Eastern fund had poured an estimated $5 billion into the tour, before abruptly pulling the plug.

The PIF will now provide a loan worth nearly $50 million for the bankruptcy and reorganization process, the LIV statement showed.

LIV’s star players Rahm, DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson hold the largest unsecured claims against the tour, totaling more than $5 million each in immediate past-due payments, per the bankruptcy filing.

But even those amounts do not reflect the future remaining contract values of some golfers, which can range into tens of millions of dollars each, the Financial Times reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

Tuesday’s statement said “the Company remains in advanced discussions with” players, including on “creating an ownership structure aligning players’ interests with the League’s long-term success.”

“Players will have the opportunity to share directly in the value they help create,” said O’Neil, in an open letter to fans.

LIV did not immediately respond to AFP request for comment on the matter.