Report: LIV's financial backer dropping plan for new league in 2027

LIV Golf's main investor to help it emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy is scrapping plans for a new version because it lacked enough player support, The Financial Times reported Wednesday.

BC Partners Credit had pledged as much as $300 million for what was called “LIV Golf 2.0,” which wanted at least 10 tournaments and an emphasis on teams. But it required enough players — at least the right players — sticking around for it.

A previously scheduled hearing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court would shift toward LIV Golf seeking liquidation of its assets, The Financial Times reported.

LIV Golf did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia was behind LIV Golf when it launched in 2022 by luring away several big names — Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and eventually Jon Rahm — with signing bonuses of nine figures.

Even run-of-the mill players with only one PGA Tour victory signed for $30 million, more than they had earned in their career.

The league, originally run by Greg Norman, spent more than $5 billion. But a few months after the start of the Iran war, PIF changed its investment strategy and said it would no long pay for LIV Golf after the 2026 season.

Even as it was trying to emerge from bankruptcy, filed on Sept. 8, the European tour laid down a crushing ultimatum by saying anyone who signed with LIV 2.0 need not apply for membership — making European players ineligible for the Ryder Cup.

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