LIV Golf has told a bankruptcy judge it is abandoning a restructuring meant to create “LIV 2.0” and will wind down operations. The decision, dated Nov. 5, 2026, ends a project that began as a Saudi-funded challenge to the PGA Tour and staged its first event in England.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia was the main source of money. On Oct. 29, 2021, Greg Norman was announced as chief executive of LIV Golf Investments, with a plan to add 10 tournaments on the Asian Tour and $200 million in prize money over 10 years. Norman said, “This is just the beginning.”
The threat was already public. On Jan. 27, 2020, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan told players about a “Premier Golf League” with Saudi funding and said members would have to choose between the PGA Tour and a new series. Rory McIlroy was the first player to reject it in public, saying on Feb. 19, 2020, “I would like to be on the right side of history on this one.” In July 2020, European tour officials met representatives of what became LIV over a global series and a team concept. That November the PGA Tour and European tour announced a strategic alliance on scheduling, commercial opportunities and media rights.
LIV set an eight-event invitational series on March 16, 2022, starting June 9 in England with $255 million in total prize money. The opener was a 54-hole shotgun event with a $20 million purse and $4 million for the winner. Norman said, “Free agency has finally come to golf.” Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka were among those who joined. The PGA Tour suspended 17 members who played the England event. Koepka later said his signing bonus was “nine figures.”
The split moved into court and into tour politics. Eleven players, including DeChambeau and Mickelson, filed an antitrust suit against the PGA Tour. A federal judge in California refused a temporary order that would have let Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones play the PGA Tour postseason. The PGA Tour sued the Public Investment Fund and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan. LIV’s first season ended with Johnson leading earnings at $35,637,767. On April 4, 2023, the European tour won an arbitration case: a Sports Resolution panel upheld fines and suspensions and said the tour could add sanctions when a player competed at LIV without a release.
On June 6, 2023, the PGA Tour, the European tour and the Public Investment Fund announced a framework for a new commercial company to unify golf. Al-Rumayyan was to sit on the PGA Tour board and chair the for-profit company, with the PGA Tour keeping majority control. How the tours would be reunited was left open. The Official World Golf Ranking rejected LIV’s application on Oct. 10, 2023. Jon Rahm, the Masters champion, signed with LIV that December.
Deal talks reached the White House in 2025. Jay Monahan and Adam Scott met President Donald Trump on Feb. 4. On Feb. 20, Tiger Woods, Scott and Monahan met Trump and Al-Rumayyan. The brief describes the meeting as a sign that a deal was close, then says the sides stalled because Al-Rumayyan insisted on a future with team golf.
The fund’s support then narrowed. On April 30, 2026, the Public Investment Fund said it would finance LIV only for the rest of the 2026 season, because the “substantial investment” required was no longer consistent with its strategy. LIV postponed a Louisiana event, cancelled its season-ending team championship in Michigan, and closed the year with a final event outside Indianapolis, where Michael La Sasso won his first LIV title.
On Sept. 8, 2026, LIV filed for Chapter 11 with more than $500 million of debt and announced a restructuring agreement with BC Partners Credit, including a $300 million pledge toward “LIV 2.0.” At a hearing on Oct. 7, Jon Rahm’s attorney said the Spanish player would no longer be part of LIV. Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia and Ian Poulter also said they were leaving. European tour chief executive Guy Kinnings said on Oct. 12 that anyone signing with LIV 2.0 would not be allowed to join the tour. On Nov. 5, LIV told the bankruptcy judge it was scrapping the restructuring support agreement and moving to a wind-down.