The LIV Golf experiment is over. The blame game is just getting started. Some point at management. Others point at the funding from PIF and BC Partners. But golf journalist Alan Shipnuck has a different target: the players who once championed the breakaway league. After a proposed $300 million rescue deal with BC Partners collapsed, Shipnuck accused Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and other stars of abandoning the project when it needed them most.

“I mean, BC Partners did not kill LIV Golf. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia did not kill LIV Golf. It was the players, and for all their lip service about how much they love team golf and how they were growing their international markets and the camaraderie. They had a chance to save live. All they had to do was pledge their loyalty, and this thing would have flown. I mean, it wouldn’t have been great, but it would have been something. But these guys, as soon as the money dried up, they all ran for the hills. And it just confirms what we knew all along that it was all bulls***,” Shipnuck said during a conversation on Dan on Golf.

The comments came at a significant moment for the breakaway circuit. On November 5, LIV Golf’s attorney informed a New Jersey bankruptcy court that the organization would wind down its operations rather than proceed with its proposed LIV 2.0 relaunch for 2027.

Alan Shipnuck’s criticism does not come in isolation. He has a long history with the rebel league.

In February 2022, before LIV staged its inaugural tournament, Shipnuck published details of a November 2021 conversation with Phil Mickelson.

Lefty reportedly described Saudi Arabia’s backers as “scary motherfuckers” while discussing the proposed breakaway league and the opportunity its financial resources presented to players.

Then, during Mickelson’s post-round media appearance at the league’s inaugural event at Centurion Club in June 2022, security personnel removed Shipnuck from the interview area despite his credentials. Alan Shipnuck described the incident as an unnecessary and aggressive response to his presence.

His latest comments therefore come from a journalist who has followed LIV’s development and controversies from before its first tournament.

And he is true to say that many LIV golfers spoke very confidently about the concept of team golf.

Jon Rahm, for instance, praised the league’s journey during the launch of his team Legion XIII.

“We’ve come a long way in a short period of time and are extremely proud of the team and brand we are building,” he had said.

Tyrrell Hatton, too, praised the league. In fact, he even said that the team golf concept was one of the reasons why he joined LIV Golf.

“The team aspect played a big part, and being with Jon as well was a huge draw. I like the schedule, traveling around the world and playing in different places,” Hatton said while joining the league in 2024.

But many golfers, analysts, and even fans said that money was the biggest influence. Alan Shipnuck says the same thing, noting that players abandoned the league when the money dried up.

However, Jon Rahm’s comments at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship 2026 about leaving LIV Golf points at another reason.

“As much as I liked the project and the idea on, let’s say, LIV 1.0, I wasn’t thrilled with the changes they were doing to 2.0 and I just wasn’t willing to follow that path,” Rahm said.

The Spaniard added that the new version was becoming more like a traditional golf tour. It was not retaining the features that originally distinguished LIV.

While the journalist believes players abandoned the team-golf philosophy when the financial incentives changed, Rahm argues that the proposed successor was moving away from that very concept.

Also, not every golfer abandoned the league. Bryson DeChambeau stayed loyal until the very end, though many questioned why he stayed on the sinking ship. He even led several funding pitches and player meets.

Regardless of who stayed loyal and who didn’t, many other factors could have influenced golfers’ decisions. For instance, LIV Golf said its players could play in any other league.

However, DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings gave LIV golfers an ultimatum. He said that LIV golfers would not be eligible to play at any DP World Tour event. This also meant that any Ryder Cup hopes would end. Soon after the announcement, players began leaving LIV Golf and applying for DP World Tour membership.

Whatever the reason may be for the demise, Alan Shipnuck called LIV’s demise a sad day for golf’s entertainment value.

“Such a sad day. Not because LIV was a good product, or that we have any sympathy for the players,” he wrote on social media. “No, LIV was a non-stop content machine, noisy and ridiculous and entertaining. It changed the game in spite of itself.”

Alan Shipnuck’s accusation raises an uncomfortable question for the players who once promoted LIV’s alternative vision. No single answer exists.