Golf-LIV Golf winding down operations after financing deal falls apart

LIV Golf, which shook up world golf in ‌2022, ​will liquidate after losing big-name players and the financing it needed to stay alive, the breakaway circuit said on Thursday. Throughout the wind-down process, LIV Golf said it would remain open to, and continue to consider any offers from third parties that could get more value from its assets.

"In light of the current circumstances, we believe shifting toward an orderly ‌wind-down is the most responsible path forward for the League at this time," Gene Davis and Jon Zinman of LIV Golf board’s special committee said in a press release. The future of LIV Golf had been in question after the circuit lost financial support from Saudi Arabia'sdeep-pocketed Public Investment Fund beyond the now-completed 2026 season.

LIV Golf had secured $300 million of potential financing from BC Partners to allow the staging of tournaments in 2027 but the plan was scrapped after a number of notable players ‌opted not to commit to the league. “BC Partners Credit supported a transaction that aligned the interests of players and investors, offering a credible path toward building a sustainable future for LIV Golf," a BC Partners spokesperson said.

"While there ‌was great support for the league, we are disappointed that mutually acceptable terms could not be reached among the various stakeholders." BITTER LEGAL BATTLES

Leading golfers, such as former world number one Jon Rahm, announced their departures from LIV Golf after it filed for bankruptcy protection in September. Rahm is planning to play on the Europe-based DP World Tour in 2027. The US-based PGA Tour has banned LIV Golf players for one year from their last appearance on the rebel circuit. LIV Golf sent shockwaves through the sport when it burst onto the scene in June 2022 with a mix of ⁠star power and ​past-their-prime veterans who signed lucrative contracts to appear in tournaments with ⁠no cuts and guaranteed paydays.

The PGA Tour refused to let members compete in LIV Golf events, and suspended defecting golfers who included major champions such as Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson. That meant golf's biggest names did not compete against each other outside of the ⁠four majors that are governed by separate bodies.

Those suspensions triggered a wave of bitter legal battles, including an antitrust lawsuit in which DeChambeau, Mickelson and others accused the PGA Tour of using monopoly power to penalise independent contractors. Critics decried LIV Golf as a vehicle for ​Saudi Arabia to improve its reputation and deflect criticism of its human rights record. The Saudi government denies accusations of human rights abuses.

American golfer Peter Malnati, who served as a player director on the PGA Tour ⁠Policy Board from 2023-25, learned about LIV's plan for liquidation during his media availability after completing his opening round at a PGA Tour event in Mexico. "I'm not an economics major, I'm not even business savvy ... but it didn't take too much to see that that wasn't a viable economic model." Malnati ⁠told ​reporters.

"If their goal was truly to be additive to the golf space, they went about it in a strange way. If their goal was to be disruptive, they did a heck of a job." 'ROUND OF A LIFETIME'

In June 2023, the PGA Tour and the Saudi fund again stunned the world of golf by announcing a framework to form one unified commercial entity and end the litigation. As talks stalled, the PGA Tour even enlisted Donald Trump in the hope the ⁠US president, an avid golfer whose courses have hosted multiple LIV events, could broker a deal.

The PGA Tour ultimately rejected the Saudi fund's $1.5 billion investment proposal, which was contingent on LIV Golf remaining intact and PIF governor Yasir ⁠Al-Rumayyan serving as co-chair of the PGA Tour Enterprises board. In late ⁠April, after pouring more than $5 billion into LIV Golf, the Saudi fund said the circuit no longer fitted its investment strategy, and it would pull funding after the 2026 season.

"Building a global platform designed to bring new, younger, and more diverse fans to the sport of golf has been the round of a lifetime for all of us," LIV ‌Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said on Thursday. "LIV ‌Golf was fun, demanding, inspiring, at times challenging — but always rewarding."