LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States on Tuesday, September 8, 2026, voiding its player contracts and opening a new period of uncertainty for professional golf.
The filing frees high-profile players including Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to leave the league if they choose. LIV has said there will be no requirement for players to join its proposed successor competition, LIV 2.0, even where they previously agreed multi-year contracts with LIV Golf.
The collapse follows the withdrawal in April of multibillion-dollar funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. The fund had spent more than $5 billion on LIV since its launch in 2021. LIV's first season began in 2022.
The 2026 season ended early. LIV's final event was held in Indianapolis last month.
Court documents put LIV's assets at between $100 million and $500 million, while estimating liabilities at between $500 million and $1 billion. The league owes at least $45 million to 14 current and former players.
Rahm is the largest player creditor, with an unsecured claim of $7.5 million. DeChambeau has an unsecured claim of $5.7 million, while Dustin Johnson is owed $5.5 million and Cameron Smith has an unsecured claim of $4.8 million.
The figures underline the pressure facing the league as its leading players weigh options elsewhere. The DP World Tour said it had received a high volume of interest from LIV Golf players. It remains unknown which players will leave, whether the PGA Tour or DP World Tour will place restrictions on former LIV members, and whether players who departed earlier will pursue unsecured claims.
LIV has proposed a restructuring plan backed by a $49.6 million bankruptcy loan from the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The tour has also found a new investor in BC Partners Advisors L.P.
Under the proposal, LIV would move to what it calls a player-first ownership model and seek to launch a new majority player-owned league early next year. LIV hopes to emerge from bankruptcy by early 2027.
Within 35 days of the bankruptcy petition, a requisite number of players must enter the restructuring agreement. The filing does not set out how many players must commit, the make-up of LIV 2.0's leadership, or the terms that could be offered to golfers considering the new league.
For LIV, the immediate task is to secure enough player support for its restructuring. For the players, the voiding of contracts gives them freedom at a decisive moment. The tour that disrupted professional golf through vast spending now faces the prospect of rebuilding around voluntary commitments from the golfers it once signed.
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