Whether LIV Golf survives into 2027 will be known by end of October, attorney says during bankruptcy hearing

Whether “LIV 2.0” happens or not will be known by the end of the month.

An attorney representing LIV Golf told a federal bankruptcy court judge on Wednesday that they should know whether the league will move forward into 2027 or will shut down for good, according to ESPN’s Mark Schlabach. 

And, perhaps more notably, U.S. bankruptcy court of New Jersey Judge Michael B. Kaplan approved a motion to reject 19 golfers’ current deals with LIV Golf. The league said that the current contracts “do not reflect the contemplated compensation structure under LIV 2.0.”

While LIV Golf says that the move is critical to restructuring and negotiating new deals with players for LIV 2.0, it does mean that several big golfers — including Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and Cam Smith, for example — have been released from their contracts with the venture. 

Whether they opt to remain with LIV Golf or find a way back to the PGA Tour or DP World Tour, though, remains to be seen.

LIV Golf has been trying to find a path forward after a rough and chaotic season in 2026. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced earlier this year that it would no longer financially back the league despite reportedly pouring more than $5 billion into it. LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. 

LIV Golf has since reached a deal with BC Partners, which has committed to invest more than $300 million into the new league so long as certain conditions are met. But perhaps the biggest issue LIV Golf is going to face, outside of financial, is simply retaining players. 

Multiple big names have already made it clear they do not want to remain with LIV 2.0. Jon Rahm is the biggest among them, though Smith, Sergio Garcia, David Puig and Abraham Ancer are walking away too. Patrick Reed left back in January, and has been working on earning his PGA Tour card back through the DP World Tour. 

During the court appearance on Wednesday, LIV Golf’s attorney ripped the DP World Tour’s decision to ban golfers from competing in both leagues in 2027. The European league, which previously allowed golfers who compete with LIV Golf to have conditional status on their Tour. Next year, though, golfers will have to choose one or the other. European golfers have to be in good standing with the DP World Tour in order to play on the Ryder Cup team, too.

That, attorney Robert Fitzgerald said, is a “clear attempt to interfere” with LIV Golf’s restructuring efforts.

“We’re continuing to monitor this situation very closely, and we’re quite concerned by it, frankly,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re reserving all rights and remedies and respect to these statements that are made. 

“Frankly, the timing in particular strikes us as a clear attempt to interfere with our process, with our players, and potentially our reorganization writ large … Player freedom is the reason LIV Golf was created, and it’s the foundation of LIV Golf 2.0, a league built around its players. LIV has been vocal in its belief in free agency and that the best players should have greater flexibility to compete across the ecosystem. It’s unfortunate that another tour is taking an opposite view and pressuring our players with a false choice.”

“We’re continuing to monitor this situation very closely, and we’re quite concerned by it, frankly,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re reserving all rights and remedies and respect to these statements that are made. 

“Frankly, the timing in particular strikes us as a clear attempt to interfere with our process, with our players, and potentially our reorganization writ large … Player freedom is the reason LIV Golf was created, and it’s the foundation of LIV Golf 2.0, a league built around its players. LIV has been vocal in its belief in free agency and that the best players should have greater flexibility to compete across the ecosystem. It’s unfortunate that another tour is taking an opposite view and pressuring our players with a false choice.”