LIV Golf's timeline from conception to bankruptcy

Key developments of LIV Golf from the first threat to the PGA Tour to the launch of the league to the decision Thursday that it will not go forward and began a wind-down of operations:

Jan. 27, 2020: PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan sends a memo to players about a “Premier Golf League” with Saudi Arabia funding. He said if it were to become a reality, “our members will have to decide whether they want to continue to be a member of the PGA Tour or play on a new series.”

Feb. 19, 2020: Rory McIlroy becomes the first player to publicly reject the idea of the Premier Golf League. “I would like to be on the right side of history on this one,” he said.

July 5-6, 2020: European tour officials meet with representatives of what later would become LIV Golf Investments over a plan to create a global series of events and a team golf concept.

Nov. 27, 2020: The PGA Tour and European tour announce a strategic alliance to collaborate on scheduling, commercial opportunities and media rights.

Oct. 29, 2021: Greg Norman announces he will be CEO of LIV Golf Investments, which will add 10 tournaments on the Asian Tour and $200 million in prize money over the next 10 years. The main source of funding is the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. “This is just the beginning,” Norman said.

Feb. 2, 2022: Phil Mickelson tells Golf Digest during the Saudi International the PGA Tour’s “obnoxious greed” is what has created the possibility of other opportunities.

Feb. 17, 2022: Golf writer Alan Shipnuck reveals details of an interview with Mickelson for his upcoming biography. Mickelson says he recruited top players and they paid attorneys to write an operating agreement for a new Saudi league. Mickelson is quoted as saying of the Saudis, “They’re scary mother (expletive) to get involved with. We know they killed (Washington Post reporter Jamal) Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”

Feb. 20, 2022: Dustin Johnson says he is “fully committed” to the PGA Tour and Bryson DeChambeau indicates he will stay where the best are playing. McIlroy says the proposed new league is “dead in the water.”

March 16, 2022: LIV Golf Investments announces an eight-event invitational series to start June 9 in England and offer $255 million in total prize money.

May 31, 2022: Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia are among 42 players announced for the inaugural LIV event in England, to be played over 54 holes in a shotgun start with a $20 million purse and $4 million to the winner. “Free agency has finally come to golf,” Norman said.

June 6, 2022: Phil Mickelson joins LIV Golf.

June 9, 2022: LIV Golf begins and the PGA Tour suspends 17 of its members playing the event.

June 10, 2022: Bryson DeChambeau joins LIV Golf.

June 21, 2022: Four-time major champion Brooks Koepka joins LIV Golf. He later says his signing bonus was “nine figures.”

July 6, 2022: LIV Golf applies to be included in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Aug. 3, 2022: DeChambeau and Mickelson are among 11 players who file an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

Aug. 9, 2022: A federal judge in California rules against Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Matt Jones in their request for a temporary restraining order to play in the PGA Tour’s postseason.

Aug. 16, 2022: At a private meeting of 23 players at the BMW Championship in Delaware, with Tiger Woods flying up from Florida to lead the session, players rally their support around the PGA Tour and discuss creating big-purse events for top players.

Aug. 24, 2022: Monahan announces sweeping changes to the schedule that includes the best players committing to a 20-tournament schedule in which they compete against one another 17 times for average purses of $20 million.

Aug. 28, 2022: Scottie Scheffler finishes the year with $19,796,910.

Aug. 30, 2022: British Open champion Cameron Smith joins LIV Golf, along with five other players.

Oct. 21, 2022: The PGA Tour files a lawsuit against the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and its governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

Oct. 30, 2022: LIV Golf’s first season ends. Dustin Johnson leads the earnings list with $35,637,767. Four others made at least $10 million.

April 4, 2023: The European tour wins an arbitration case against LIV Golf. The Sports Resolution panel upholds fines and suspension and says the European tour can impose further sanctions when a player competes at LIV Golf without getting a release.

June 6, 2023: In an announcement that even players didn’t see coming, the PGA Tour, European tour and Public Investment Fund announce a framework agreement to form a new commercial company that would unify golf. Al-Rumayyan would have a seat on the PGA Tour board and chair the for-profit company, but the PGA Tour would hold the majority stake. Left undetermined was how the tours would get back together.

June 13, 2023: Monahan takes a leave of absence for a medical situation and turns over tour operations to two executives.

July 8, 2023: Former AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson resigns from the PGA Tour citing concerns over the framework agreement.

Aug. 1, 2023: Woods is appointed to the PGA Tour board for the first time in his career. The term has no limits.

Oct. 10, 2023: The Official World Golf Ranking rejects LIV’s application.

Dec. 7, 2023: Masters champion Jon Rahm signs with LIV Golf.

Jan. 31, 2024: The PGA Tour announces Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of North American sports owners led by Fenway Sports Group, has become a minority investor of $1.5 billion, with the potential to reach $3 billion. The tour announces a first-ever equity program for players.

May 13, 2024: Jimmy Dunne, who helped connect Monahan and Al-Rumayyan for secret meetings that led to the framework agreement, resigns from the PGA Tour saying his role has been made superfluous.

Sept. 1, 2024: Scheffler ends the year with $62,228,357 in earnings and bonus money.

Oct. 19, 2024: Rahm ends his season with $35,894,044 in bonus money and earnings from LIV, the European tour and the majors.

Dec. 17, 2024: Monahan announces a search for the first CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises.

Jan. 15, 2025: Scott O’Neil is announced as the new CEO of LIV Golf, replacing Norman.

Feb. 4, 2025: Monahan and Adam Scott meet with President Donald Trump at the White House to discuss the future of professional golf. Woods is not available due to the death of his mother, Kultida.

Feb. 20, 2025: Woods, Scott and Monahan meet with Trump and Al-Rumayyan at the White House, an indication that a deal is getting close. But the sides are stalled when Al-Rumayyan insists on a future with team golf.

June 17, 2025: The tour hires former NFL executive Brian Rolapp as CEO of PGA Tour Enterprises.

July 11, 2025: LIV reapplies to the Official World Golf Ranking.

Aug. 20, 2025: Rolapp appoints Woods chairman of the Future Competition Committee aimed at revamping the PGA Tour model of competition.

Nov. 4, 2025: LIV Golf announces it will go to 72 holes after four years of 54-hole events.

Dec. 23, 2025: Koepka announces he is leaving LIV Golf.

Jan. 12, 2026: Koepka is reinstated to the PGA Tour under a “Returning Member Program” that comes with financial stipulations. Rolapp offers the same deal to Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith with a Feb. 4 deadline. None accepts.

Jan. 28, 2026: Patrick Reed says he will not sign a new deal with LIV Golf. He plans to play the European tour as a path back to the PGA Tour.

Feb. 3, 2026: The Official World Golf Ranking says it will award points to LIV, but only to the top 10 finishers.

Feb. 21, 2026: The European tour says eight members have been granted releases to play LIV Golf without being sanctioned, provided they pay outstanding fines, withdraw appeals and play in stipulated tournaments. Rahm does not immediately agree to the deal.

April 15, 2026: PIF releases a new five-year strategy geared toward “a new phase of sustained value creation.” Amid speculation PIF funding would cease after 2026, O’Neil in a memo to LIV players and staff said the season will continue without interruption and at “full throttle.”

April 28, 2026: LIV Golf says its event scheduled for June 25-28 in Louisiana has been postponed until the fall.

April 30, 2026: PIF announces it will fund LIV Golf only for the rest of the 2026 season, saying the “substantial investment” LIV requires is no longer consistent with PIF’s investment strategy.

July 21, 2026: The Asian Tour announces a new alliance with the European tour and PGA Tour.

Aug. 17, 2026: LIV cancels its season-ending team championship in Michigan and said the team title would be decided in the final event in Indiana.

Aug. 23, 2026: Michael La Sasso wins his first LIV title in the final event of the 2026 season outside Indianapolis.

Aug. 30, 2026: Scottie Scheffler ends the PGA Tour season with $63,937,525 in earnings and bonuses.

Sept. 8, 2026: LIV Golf files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy with more than $500 million of debt. It announces a restructuring agreement with BC Partners Credit with a $300 million pledge toward “LIV 2.0.”

Oct. 7, 2026: Jon Rahm’s attorney says at a bankruptcy hearing the Spanish star will no longer be part of LIV. Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter also say they are leaving.

Oct. 12, 2026: European tour CEO Guy Kinnings says anyone signing with LIV 2.0 will not be allowed to join the tour.

Nov. 5, 2025: LIV Golf tells a bankruptcy judge it is scrapping the Restructuring Support Agreement for LIV 2.0 and will transition to wind-down of its operations.

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