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LIV Golf to Wind Down After Lawyers Confirm Revamped League Will Not Go Ahead

LIV Golf will wind down after its lawyers told a U.S. bankruptcy court on Thursday that the proposed player-owned LIV 2.0 will not move forward, ending the breakaway league's bid for a second life after its $300 million rescue plan fell through.

Empty golf course fairway with sand bunkers at sunrise

LIV Golf will wind down after lawyers for the league told a U.S. bankruptcy court on Thursday that its proposed revamped competition, LIV 2.0, will not move forward.

At a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Trenton, New Jersey, the league’s lawyers confirmed that the wind-down was the preferred course of action. “We believe the wind down path is the best path,” the league’s lawyer said, according to a report by NUCLR Golf on X. A formal wind-down would end the breakaway league, which launched in 2022 with backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

The rescue plan fell apart over player signings

The court hearing followed the collapse of a proposed $300 million financing deal with BC Partners Credit, which the Financial Times reported on Wednesday. The deal depended on LIV securing firm commitments from a strong group of players for a 2027 season, and the firm walked away when those commitments did not arrive.

Red flagstick on a golf green beside a sand bunker

Only four players had publicly committed to LIV 2.0, according to Golf Digest: Richard Bland, Cameron Tringale, Brendan Steele and Ben Campbell. The league failed to lock in Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson, along with Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann, the Sports Business Journal reported.

Several of the league’s biggest names had already decided to leave. Former world No. 1 Jon Rahm said a return “wasn’t really ever much of a consideration,” while Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Tom McKibbin, David Puig, Adrian Meronk, Louis Oosthuizen and Graeme McDowell also said they would not return.

Golf bag with clubs standing on a practice range with golf balls on the grass

A league built on Saudi money

LIV launched in 2022 with more than $5 billion from the Public Investment Fund, which lured leading players from the PGA Tour with large contracts. The fund said it would end its financial backing after the 2026 season, and LIV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey on September 8, 2026, entering a restructuring support agreement with BC Partners Credit the same day.

The LIV 2.0 plan would have given players about 52.5 percent of the league’s equity and run at least 10 tournaments, with a stronger focus on team golf. In a statement, BC Partners said it was disappointed that mutually acceptable terms could not be reached among the various stakeholders. South Australia Premier Peter Malinauskas said on Thursday that he could not see the state’s annual LIV event, set for March at Kooyonga Golf Club, going ahead.

Modern golf clubhouse with a putting green in front at late afternoon

Reporting based on coverage by Reuters, EssentiallySports and Axios.