LIV Golf suffers major blow as BC Partners ‘abandons relaunch bid’

BC Partners, a firm providing financing to middle-market companies, is abandoning its bid to relaunch LIV Golf after failing to secure sufficient player commitments, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

The professional men’s circuit, a competitor to the PGA Tour, sought bankruptcy protection in New Jersey in September as part of a restructuring effort after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—which has committed more than $5 billion to LIV since launching in 2022—announced that it would end its financial backing following the conclusion of the 2026 season.

LIV has stated that it plans to continue operating while reorganising.

The private equity firm’s retreat comes ahead of a key deadline to demonstrate sufficient player backing to hold a tournament series in 2027, the FT reported, citing sources directly familiar with the matter.

Neither BC Partners nor LIV Golf offered an immediate response to requests for comment.

Former world number one Jon Rahm is among a wave of high-profile golfers who have departed LIV Golf following its bankruptcy protection filing.

Rory McIlroy has continually spoken out on the breakaway tour (Adam Davy/PA) (PA Wire)

LIV is scheduled to appear at a US bankruptcy court hearing in Trenton, New Jersey, on Thursday to address various contracts, leases and assets. It remains uncertain whether LIV’s overall future will be discussed.

In October, BC Partners completed an initial investment in LIV Golf, intending to provide up to $300m in financing to assist the league in emerging from restructuring and fortifying its financial standing ahead of the 2027 season.

LIV Golf launched in 2022 with backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, luring marquee players away from the PGA Tour—including Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson—with lucrative contracts.

DeChambeau, one of the biggest names on LIV’s player roster, recently stated that the business model for the league’s proposed 2.0 era “makes a lot of sense” and expressed hope that it would endure “forever”.

Others have been critical of LIV Golf, with DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings asserting that LIV sought to undermine the European circuit.

“They took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race,” Rory McIlroy told reporters earlier on Wednesday ahead of the Abu Dhabi Championship.