Just over six months after losing its original financial backer, LIV Golf has reportedly seen its potential savior fall by the wayside as private capital firm BC Partners has decided to drop its bid to keep the league running. BC Partners had previously committed upwards of $300 million to keep LIV Golf afloat with the circuit aiming to reinvent itself in the wake of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund deciding to no longer finance the upstart league that once aimed to put the PGA Tour out of business. While approximately 30 players had expressed interest in "LIV Golf 2.0," BC Partners decided to pull the funding it had originally committed in August, believing there are not enough golfers -- nor enough notable names -- attached to the project to keep the league viable, according to The Athletic and the Financial Times.
LIV Golf now may have no choice but to liquidate its assets and shutter the league entirely. The PIF previously invested approximately $7 billion total to start LIV Golf, fund outsized player contracts (some of which reached nine figures) and keep the league running for five seasons. Once the PIF withdrew its funding, the league was forced to cancel two tournaments; it also failed to pay vendors and some of its players.
LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September, promising to find a new backer and reimagine the league. Nearly every major LIV Golf player has departed the league, including Jon Rahm, who reached a high-profile separation agreement with the circuit, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia. Brooks Koepka previously took a lifeline by accepting penalties and returning to the PGA Tour ahead of the 2026 season, while Bryson DeChambeau recently stated that he was planning to see LIV Golf's new iteration through.
Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith are among other players whose contract situations are murky. Representatives for Rahm and other LIV Golf creditors are scheduled to appear at a hearing in New Jersey on Thursday, hoping to finalize their agreements. With LIV Golf now unfunded immediately ahead of its court date, it may choose to liquidate its assets and fold the league entirely.
The PGA Tour has been hesitant to open additional pathways for former LIV Golf players to return, though some could regain their playing cards and compete in tournaments through traditional qualifying procedures. CBS Sports will update this developing story.
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