LIV Golf Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Lists Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau Among Creditors Owed Millions

Since Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund said in April it would end funding for LIV Golf after the 2026 season, the league has cut its schedule short, gutted its staff, and now taken the step of filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

LIV Golf filed the petition Tuesday, September 8, in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, according to CNBC, the BBC and USA Today. The company describes the move as a restructuring, not a shutdown.

What LIV owes, and to whom

Court documents put LIV's assets at $100 million to $500 million against liabilities of $500 million to $1 billion, according to USA Today, which obtained the filings directly. Field Level Media reported the debtor list includes as many as 5,000 creditors.

Among the largest are LIV's own players. The BBC reported the 30 largest unsecured claims include 14 current and former LIV golfers owed a combined total just over $45 million, with two-time major champion Jon Rahm topping the list at $7.5 million, followed by Bryson DeChambeau ($5.7 million), Dustin Johnson ($5.5 million), Cameron Smith ($4.8 million) and Tyrrell Hatton ($3.4 million).

Forbes, citing USA Today's review of the filings, put slightly different figures on the same names, listing 27 creditors owed a combined $64.2 million, with Rahm's claim at $7.4 million and DeChambeau's at $5.8 million, and adding Adrian Meronk at $4.4 million to the list. USA Today also reported that LIV is disputing the claims filed by DeChambeau and Johnson specifically, a detail not carried in the other coverage reviewed here.

Brooks Koepka, who left LIV in January to rejoin the PGA Tour, still shows up as a creditor owed $1.7 million, per the BBC and Field Level Media.

Who's keeping the lights on

PIF has agreed to provide $49.6 million in debtor-in-possession financing to keep LIV operating through the bankruptcy process, according to CNBC and Bitcoin Ethereum News' review of Forbes' reporting. That's the same sovereign wealth fund that spent more than $5 billion building LIV since its 2022 launch, and is now funding the company's unwind on its way out the door.

The planned replacement is BC Partners, a London-based private equity firm whose credit arm, BC Partner Advisors LP, has signed a restructuring support agreement with LIV, according to CNBC and Golf Digest. Golf Digest reported that BC Partners has ties to GSE Worldwide, the sports agency that represents a sizable share of LIV's player roster, and noted that key questions remain unanswered: whether the firm's financing is a loan, whether it depends on additional investors coming in, or whether it's contingent on a critical mass of players staying with the league.

The pitch: player-owned LIV 2.0

CEO Scott O'Neil told fans in a letter posted Tuesday that the reorganized league would be majority-owned by players and would launch what he called LIV 2.0 early next year. Golf Digest reported the plan calls for 75-player fields playing 72 holes with a cut and some Monday qualifying, events on five continents including the U.S., and teams built around "national identities" in what O'Neil described as "World Cup-style" competition.

"This process gives us the structure and time to pursue a landmark transaction and begin the next chapter of LIV Golf," O'Neil said in Tuesday's release, adding the league is in "advanced talks" with players about the new ownership model.

The filing effectively ends existing LIV 1.0 contracts. The BBC reported there is no obligation for any player to sign onto LIV 2.0, regardless of prior multi-year deals, with outstanding amounts owed to players and other creditors to be resolved through the bankruptcy court process instead.

Players like Rahm face an uncertain path forward. He told the BBC on Tuesday ahead of the Irish Open, "I still have a contract with LIV 1.0 that I'm more than willing to fulfil," while acknowledging he doesn't know where he'll play next season. "There's a lot of things that could happen," he said. "Time's gonna tell."

A private equity firm with ties to the players' own agency financing a league that owes those same players millions presents a structure worth scrutinizing before any court approves it. Golf Digest was alone among the outlets reviewed in flagging that connection.

The bankruptcy court still has to approve the restructuring plan. Until it does, Rahm's free agency, DeChambeau's disputed claim, and the fate of the roughly $45 to $64 million in disputed player payments now sit with a federal judge in New Jersey rather than with LIV's own front office.