The loudest league in golf is leaving with a calculator instead of a curtain call. LIV Golf spent five years selling spectacle, but the players who watched it most closely treat its end as a math problem that never balanced. LIV’s attorney confirmed in a New Jersey bankruptcy hearing on Thursday that the league will wind down after more than $5 billion in spending.
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“It was always going to be very hard for them to get enough players to sign up for what they were proposing, which was smaller prize money, no upfront payments,” he said. “Equity in the league is one thing. They’ve always faced a lot of headwinds from the inception in 2022, but there was no way. If they couldn’t make $6 billion work, they were never going to make $300 million work. The math didn’t add up.” Rory McIlroy told Today’s Golfer in Abu Dhabi.
BC Partners pulled out of that $300 million rescue deal. McIlroy spoke after a second-round 63 at Yas Links, his first round with 11 birdies in 21 years on the DP World Tour.
Peter Malnati, a former PGA Tour policy board player director, said the shutdown lets pro golf return to business models based on sound economics. He added that commissioner Jay Monahan “played the cards he was dealt incredibly well.”
Adam Scott has made it clear that former LIV Golf players should not get an easy return to the PGA Tour or DP World Tour. Speaking to Today’s Golfer, Scott said, “I think the fairest thing is that they all re-establish themselves in the system that they want to go to.”
He added that players had given up their privileges when they joined LIV and should now have to requalify, though he hopes to see more top players competing together again.
He added that players had given up their privileges when they joined LIV and should now have to requalify. While he hopes to see more top players competing together again, Scott believes they must follow the same path as everyone else.
Jon Rahm has said he seriously doubts he will receive a deal as generous as the one Brooks Koepka accepted to return to the PGA Tour. Rahm’s attorney told a New Jersey bankruptcy court that he will not be part of LIV 2.0.
LIV’s collapse does not mean its players will automatically return to the tours they left. Each circuit has its own membership rules, and the special PGA Tour return program that brought Brooks Koepka back has already closed. Former LIV players will now have to find their own routes into tournament fields, whether through existing exemptions, qualifying events or invitations. For some, the road back could be much harder than expected.
McIlroy believes his home circuit stands to gain most. He said it would be “an amazing thing” if the former LIV stars came through the DP World Tour and qualified that way, which would make the tour stronger. Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton already hold DP World Tour status, and Bryson DeChambeau could use a membership category open to recent major winners. Dustin Johnson and Joaquin Niemann could accept tournament invites under a new policy for stars left without a league.
McIlroy noted that only a handful of cards will go into the Championship Series, so competition will be tight. The DP World Tour’s position has been firm for weeks. DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings said players need to make a choice, and the tour banned LIV members from its events starting in 2027. That ended the dual-membership arrangement that had let several players keep Ryder Cup eligibility.
The shutdown also raises a money question for the PGA Tour. Josh Carpenter of Sports Business Journal noted on X that most PGA Tour title sponsorships cost about $12 million to $15 million a year before 2022. Championship Series events now run $30 million to $35 million.
PGA Tour pro Michael Kim replied that the first round of contracts is probably easier because it’s “the shiny new thing.” The real test, he said, is how many re-up after a few years.
The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, and sponsors will now have to deal with the changes left behind by LIV’s exit. The coming months will show who benefits most from its collapse. For now, all eyes are on where DeChambeau, Rahm, and the other LIV players will end up.