The most shocking part of the LIV Golf collapse isn’t that the league is closing. It is that the $6 billion Saudi Public Investment Fund walked away after five years of pouring money into the sport. The league announced on Thursday that it will not move forward with its LIV 2.0 plan, leaving stars like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm in limbo. According to the New York Post, the league’s attorneys informed a New Jersey bankruptcy court that debtors have halted the LIV 2.0 plan. This means the tour is dead, and the only question left is how much players will lose.
The Money Vanishes
Because negotiations with elite golfers collapsed, BC Partners withdrew its $300 million financing offer just a day prior to the court hearing. Now, LIV Golf must liquidate its remaining assets to pay off debts. The league said in a statement on Thursday that it would “remain open to, and continue to consider, any value-maximizing alternatives with third parties that might arise throughout the wind-down process,” according to ESPN. But experts say a sale is unlikely. ESPN notes that if Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund failed after investing $6 billion, others will likely not attempt the venture.
The league faces a larger financial hit because of a tax trap. The league aimed to leverage Net Operating Losses to sidestep millions in taxes, contingent upon remaining operational and generating a profit. “If they don’t make money going forward, those NOLs are not useful,” said bankruptcy analyst Blanka Wolfe in an interview with ESPN. “They’re not cash. They only offset future profits.” If LIV liquidates, those tax credits are worthless, and the league gets nothing back.
DeChambeau’s Path Back
Bryson DeChambeau faces a unique choice as the league dies. The American golf star had publicly supported the league and even tried to get a new version of LIV off the ground. The New York Post reports that DeChambeau stated this recently during an appearance on the “Figuring Out” podcast, “The business model makes a lot of sense,”. Despite this, he never signed a commitment for the new iteration. As the 2025 U.S. Open champion, DeChambeau has been granted full playing privileges for 2027 by the DP World Tour.
By finishing in the top 10 of the 2027 Race to Dubai money list while playing on the European tour, DeChambeau will regain his PGA Tour card for the following season. To choose this route, he must file his paperwork by Nov. 14. The Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa will feature DeChambeau from Dec. 3-6. This gives him a clear route back to the majors, but other stars do not have the same luck.
When Can Others Return?
Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, and other LIV golfers face a much longer wait. They cannot return to the PGA Tour without facing discipline for leaving the tour in the first place. ESPN states that based on the penalty Patrick Reed faced returning to the PGA Tour in January, golfers like Rahm, Smith and others cannot return until Aug. 24, 2027. This date represents the one-year anniversary of their final start at the last LIV Golf tournament outside of Indianapolis.
Although PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp invited Brooks Koepka, DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith to rejoin the tour, only Koepka accepted. At the PGA Tour’s request, Koepka donated $5 million to charity and forfeited equity plus other bonuses to regain eligibility. Rolapp said it was a one-time offer at the time. The tour is not willing to give the same deal to the rest of the LIV field.
