LIV Golf's future and the ripple effect for PGA and European tours provide plenty of drama

LIV Golf didn't generate this much suspense at tournaments when the music was blaring, the Saudi cash was flowing freely and players from the Cleeks and Majestics headed off in carts for the shotgun start.

Every day, there's more speculation. Who's leaving? Who's staying? Weren't these the same questions four years ago?

It was May 31, 2022, when a group of golf writers out to dinner in Ohio received emails announcing the field for the inaugural LIV Golf event — Dustin Johnson and 12 other PGA Tour members — and had to leave before the creme brulee arrived.

And now another waiting game, not for the launch but whether LIV survives.

LIV Golf is working through Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a pledge of $300 million from BC Partners Credit, a far cry from the $5 billion the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia dropped in four years before abruptly pulling the plug .

Key to the “LIV 2.0” version — at least 10 tournaments, player equity and prize money half of what it used to be — is getting a “critical mass” of players to buy into the plan. How many players comprise a critical mass is unclear. And while LIV officials don't plan to announce each decision piecemeal, players are doing that for them.

Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia have court-approved separations from LIV and are free to go. Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Tom McKibbin and Adrian Meronk have said they are leaving . Graeme McDowell added his name to the list Monday with a succinct message on social media.

Adding a wrinkle to the immediate future of LIV was a report by The Athletic that Johnson was among more than 10 players seeking severance deals from PIF worth more than $100 million in contract payments. Johnson's attorney suggested a deal was tied to players sticking with LIV 2.0.

“The decision to release potential claims against the PIF and join LIV 2.0 will be influenced largely by how the PIF manages the windup of LIV 1.0," David Cornwell told The Athletic.

An amended restructuring agreement approved by the New Jersey bankruptcy court indicates LIV no longer has a hard deadline for players to decide. The hope was to have a decision by the end of the month. LIV remains bullish about a 2027 season.

That won't be the end of the drama, however, and it would seem the golf landscape is still a long way off from being stitched back together, if it ever can be.

The PGA Tour has yet to say whether defectors — currently banned for one year from the date of their last LIV appearance — have a place. It's not a high priority as the tour seeks to fill out its lucrative “Championship Series” schedule in 2028 and find sponsors for the second tier.

The European tour, meanwhile, delivered a strong ultimatum when CEO Guy Kinnings said anyone staying with LIV need not apply for membership for the commercially known DP World Tour.

That made it an easy choice for Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton — particularly with Ryder Cup strings attached — and for youngsters Tom McKibbin and David Puig. They have status based on performance. That doesn't mean it sits well with those who stayed.

“Four years ago, they didn't give a (crap) about the DP World Tour,” Joost Luiten told Today's Golfer. “They made a decision to go after the money. And now all of a sudden, the money is gone and they want to come back and act like nothing happened. I don’t think that’s right.”

There's also the matter of sponsor exemptions for those who don't have status, or even those who never gave much thought to the European tour because they didn't need it. Now they do.

European tour officials are not in position to turn their back on a chance to strengthen fields.

“Given the high volume of inbound interest and enquiries we have received in recent weeks, we are exploring the terms on which we are willing to accommodate players provided they are free from third party contractual restrictions and are willing to abide by our membership regulations,” a European tour spokesman said.

It's possible such players are allowed only a set number of exemptions. And because the exemptions are for stock events — think Magical Kenya Open and the Soudal Open in Belgium — it might not be a case of squeezing out a more worthy player.

But then it's a matter of whether loyalty means more than name recognition.

Eddie Pepperell, among the most thoughtful players, missed the cut last week in South Korea and wound up one spot out of a full European tour card for 2027. He wrote in his “The Chipping Forecast” post that outside of players whom people pay to watch, send everyone else to Q-school.

But potentially losing a spot in the field to a player no longer interested in LIV because it no longer offers $20 million purses with no cuts?

“As someone who has gone through the wringer this game provides (mostly due to my own shortcomings of course) in recent years, and who has gone back to Q School and had two immensely divergent experiences, betrayal feels like the right word,” Pepperell wrote. “And unfortunately when one feels that way inevitably what follows is a loss of respect, and what tends to fill the void left behind is resentment and contempt.”

No matter what happens to LIV, one suspects it won't make the healing process any easier.

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