LIV Golf is closing, five years after launching with a promise to remake professional golf, according to elcorreo.com, which reported that the Saudi-backed league will begin an “orderly liquidation” on Monday. The circuit, which spent roughly $5 billion since 2022 — including $20 million in prize money at each of its tournaments — could not secure a last-ditch $300 million investment because elite players refused to join the restructured league.
LIV Golf launched in 2022 as a rival to the PGA Tour and Europe’s DP World Tour, bankrolled by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and it lured stars such as Jon Rahm, who won the league’s individual title in each of its last three editions. What began as a breakaway backed by seemingly unlimited money instead ends with the PIF closing the tap early this year and a planned relaunch, dubbed LIV 2.0, collapsing for lack of players.
Bankruptcy Leaves Restructuring as Sole Option
elcorreo.com reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund decided at the start of the year to stop the flow of money that had poured into the league since its 2022 launch — about $5 billion in total.
The league had filed for bankruptcy last September, according to the report, leaving a restructuring deal as its only remaining option. The proposed agreement with BC Partners would have injected $300 million and become the cornerstone of LIV 2.0, a scaled-back version of the circuit with a shorter schedule, smaller purses and golfers taking equity stakes in the league. In a statement issued this week, LIV Golf’s leadership said efforts to implement its Restructuring Support Agreement with BC Partners had failed.
BC Partners Walks Away as Stars Refuse to Sign
The reason the deal fell apart, elcorreo.com reported, was the players. BC Partners pulled out because top-level golfers would not commit to the restructured league. The departures of Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio García, Louis Oosthuizen and David Puig dealt a heavy blow to the project, while other leading figures had not signed on to continue.
Rahm, the Barrika native who captured the individual crown in each of the league’s final three seasons, was blunt about the terms on offer. “However much I liked the LIV 1.0 project, I was not enthusiastic about the changes they were making for 2.0 and I simply was not willing to go down that path,” he said before competing in Abu Dhabi. He described the proposal’s terms as “unacceptable.”
Bankruptcy in September, Liquidation on Monday
The league declared bankruptcy last September. The PIF stopped funding at the beginning of this year. The BC Partners rescue failed this week. Now LIV Golf says it will carry out an orderly liquidation beginning Monday, which it called “the most responsible path for the circuit.”
Funding Ends After Top Players Leave
Why is LIV Golf shutting down? elcorreo.com reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund stopped funding the league at the start of the year, and the planned $300 million rescue from BC Partners collapsed because top players would not join the restructured LIV 2.0.
LIV Golf said the orderly liquidation would begin on Monday, calling it the most responsible path for the circuit.
According to the report, Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio García, Louis Oosthuizen and David Puig all departed, while other leading players had not signed to continue.
How much did Saudi Arabia spend on LIV Golf? elcorreo.com put the figure at about $5 billion since the league launched in 2022, with each tournament carrying a $20 million prize fund.
