LIV Golf abandons 2027 relaunch plans amid player pullout, reports say

BC Partners, the private capital firm that made an initial investment in LIV Golf in October and had planned to provide up to $300 million to help the league emerge from restructuring, is abandoning its bid to relaunch the Saudi-backed tour because it could not secure enough player commitments, the Financial Times reported Wednesday, citing people directly familiar with the matter.

The decision lands as LIV Golf sits in bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, where it filed in September as part of a restructuring after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — which has poured more than $5 billion into the league since its 2022 launch — announced it would end its financial backing after the 2026 season. The firm’s move came as a deadline loomed to demonstrate enough player support to stage a tournament series in 2027. LIV has said it plans to continue operating while it reorganizes, and neither LIV nor BC Partners responded to requests for comment.

LIV 2.0 Runs Out of Time

According to multiple sources cited by The Athletic, LIV Golf is set to cease operations after BC Partners determined there was no longer enough time to make “LIV 2.0” workable. The collapse of the relaunch effort traces directly to the free-agent market: LIV failed to secure contractual commitments from Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson, as well as others including Cam Smith and Joaquin Niemann, Sports Business Journal reported.

Ex-world No. 1 Jon Rahm is part of a group of prominent players who have departed LIV since the league filed for protection in September, stripping it of the marquee talent it initially acquired. LIV launched in 2022 with Public Investment Fund money and lured leading PGA Tour players — Phil Mickelson, DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Johnson — with lucrative contracts, but the pipeline of defectors has now reversed.

“They took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race,” Rory McIlroy told reporters Wednesday ahead of the Abu Dhabi Championship.

DeChambeau, one of the biggest names remaining on LIV’s roster, had recently endorsed the relaunch plan, saying the business model for the proposed 2.0 era “makes a lot of sense” and that he hoped it would last “forever.” That optimism now collides with the reality that his own commitment, along with Johnson’s, never came through on paper.

Thursday Hearing in Trenton

The league is slated to attend a Thursday session in a US bankruptcy court in Trenton, New Jersey, where it will address several contracts, leases and assets. It remains unclear whether the league’s ultimate fate will also be on the agenda. DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings has been openly critical of LIV’s impact on the sport, saying the league had sought to undermine the European circuit.

What is still unknown is the full scope of Thursday’s proceedings and whether any alternative buyer emerges before the 2027 deadline passes entirely. BC Partners did not respond to requests for comment, and LIV declined to comment when contacted.

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