LIV Golf has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as the controversial breakaway golf tour attempts a major financial restructuring and looks for a route back to competition in 2027.

The move marks another dramatic chapter for a competition that transformed professional golf, attracted some of the sport’s biggest names with enormous contracts and sparked a battle that reshaped the global game.

LIV has entered a court-supervised restructuring process in the United States after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolled the competition from its launch, decided to end its funding.

Rather than signalling an immediate end to LIV Golf, the bankruptcy process is designed to give the organisation time to restructure its finances and potentially bring in new investment.

A new ownership model for LIV?

At the centre of LIV’s plans is a potential deal with investment firm BC Partners Credit.

The two sides are exploring a recapitalisation of the business, although any eventual transaction would require the necessary court and stakeholder approvals.

LIV is also looking at a significantly different ownership structure, with players potentially becoming majority equity holders in the competition.

The league says discussions with players about its future are continuing.

For a tour built on unprecedented levels of Saudi investment, it would represent a fundamental change in how LIV operates.

LIV’s debts could reach $1 billion

The scale of the financial challenge facing the organisation has also been revealed in the bankruptcy filing.

LIV estimates that it has between $500 million and $1 billion in liabilities, compared with estimated assets of between $100 million and $500 million.

PIF has agreed to provide approximately $49.6 million in debtor-in-possession financing, allowing the organisation to continue operating while the restructuring process takes place.

BC Partners is expected to provide financing connected with LIV’s eventual emergence from bankruptcy if the proposed restructuring proceeds.

Because LIV operates internationally, the organisation is also seeking recognition of the US Chapter 11 proceedings in England and Wales as it attempts to protect its overseas assets and operations.

Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau among players owed millions

The filing provides an extraordinary insight into money currently owed to some of golf’s biggest stars.

Jon Rahm has the largest unsecured player claim listed, at approximately $7.47 million, followed by Bryson DeChambeau at $5.77 million and Dustin Johnson at $5.49 million.

Other significant player claims listed include:

• Cam Smith — $4.83 million
• Adrian Meronk — $4.43 million
• Tyrrell Hatton — $3.37 million
• Bubba Watson — $3.32 million
• Abe Ancer — $2.65 million
• Byeong Hun An — $1.81 million
• Brooks Koepka — $1.68 million

Those figures relate to unsecured claims included in the filing and do not necessarily represent the total value players may still be entitled to under their longer-term contracts.

Rahm, for example, joined LIV ahead of the 2024 season in one of the most lucrative deals in the history of professional golf.

The list of creditors extends beyond the players. IMG Media is listed as being owed around $3.2 million, while other substantial claims involve businesses and organisations connected with LIV’s media, agency and event operations.

LIV Golf is already planning for 2027

Perhaps the most interesting part of the announcement is that LIV is not talking like an organisation preparing to disappear.

Instead, plans are being developed for what could effectively become LIV Golf 2.0.

The proposed revamped competition would increase tournament fields to 75 golfers, compared with roughly 57 during the most recent season.

Monday qualifying events could also be introduced, opening another route into a league that has previously relied heavily on contracted players and its established team structure.

LIV’s ambitions remain international, with events potentially taking place across five continents, including tournaments in Australia, South Africa, Mexico, England, Hong Kong and the United States.

The organisation intends to return to competition in 2027, although a final calendar and individual tournament locations have yet to be confirmed.

What happens to LIV Golf now?

Chapter 11 allows businesses to reorganise while continuing to operate, meaning the filing itself does not mean LIV Golf has ceased trading.

But there is no disguising the significance of the moment.

Since arriving in 2022, LIV Golf has been one of the most disruptive forces professional sport has seen in recent years.

Huge signing bonuses persuaded major champions including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and eventually Jon Rahm to leave the traditional PGA Tour structure.

The result was a bitter split within men’s professional golf, legal battles, arguments over world-ranking points and an extraordinary escalation in player prize money.

Now LIV faces a very different challenge: proving that the competition can survive without the virtually unlimited financial backing that enabled its rapid rise.

The proposed BC Partners deal, negotiations with players and the success of the bankruptcy restructuring will therefore be crucial.

LIV Golf may be down — but, for now at least, it is certainly not declaring itself out.

Its next battle will be less about winning golf tournaments and more about whether one of sport’s most expensive experiments can successfully reinvent itself.

For more on the European outlook and the 2027 calendar, read the Love Dublin companion.