From the moment it was born, LIV Golf raised questions, many of which have now been answered because, well, LIV Golf is dead. Its final breaths came Thursday at a bankruptcy hearing in New Jersey, where its lawyers announced that the league was done and dusted, its only remaining move being full liquidation.
LIV’s demise, though, doesn’t resolve everything. Questions linger. Here are six burning ones.
What’s next for Bryson DeChambeau?
Even as LIV lay on its deathbed, several of its stars announced that they were bailing. Its biggest name, meanwhile, remained committed, or at least half-heartedly so, like the relative who couldn’t bring himself to leave the hospital but also couldn’t bear to sit in the room.
In the not-so-distant past, DeChambeau mused aloud about the possibility of becoming a full-time YouTube golfer. If you believe that, we’ve got a conforming Alien wedge to sell you. No chance that happens. DeChambeau has too many other options.
The DP World Tour has reportedly offered him an automatic exemption and a route back into its membership, giving him an opportunity to compete internationally and re-enter the established golf ecosystem. A return to the PGA Tour is less straightforward. It’s unclear what kind of pathways back Brian Rolapp and his crew in Ponte Vedra might offer.
Meantime, DeChambeau doesn’t have any immediate major championship worries. His 2024 U.S. Open win guarantees him a spot in that event through 2034, as well as exemptions into the Masters, PGA Championship and the Open Championship through 2029.
How many other LIV players can find their way back?
As for the other household names from LIV — Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia among them — circumstances vary. All of the above have returned to the DP World Tour, though not all under the same terms and conditions.
The PGA Tour is a murkier matter. Its brass have made it clear that they won’t simply roll out the welcome mat. The path Brooks Koepka followed (making a charitable donation and forfeiting FedEx Cup bonus money, among other concessions through the Tour’s Returning Member program) is no longer open. The more likely role model is Patrick Reed (raise your hand if you never expected to see that sentence) who left LIV in January and is now on the verge of regaining his Tour card by virtue of his play on the DP World Tour.
How will the returning stars fare?
DeChambeau and Koepka both won majors while playing for LIV. But other stars have been a mixed bag in the biggies. Cameron Smith has mostly looked as if he’d rather be finishing. Rahm, the defending Masters champ when he left for LIV in 2023, has five top 10s in majors since, but no wins. You get the drift.
The other kind of winning involves winning hearts and minds, which raises the question of how warmly (or coldly) LIV defectors will be welcomed back. That’s tough to say for certain. But a lot will surely depend on each player’s reputation before he left for LIV, the manner in which he departed, and how he performs when he’s back on the big stage.
Who gets paid, and who gets left holding the bag?
The financial wreckage extends well beyond LIV’s players and investors. Its bankruptcy filings show estimated liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion, with a long list of creditors waiting to collect that includes media partners, vendors and even charitable organizations.
How much of that money anyone will actually see is another matter. Given that LIV’s reported labilities exceed its reported assets, it seems safe to assume that some parties will get stiffed.
What happens to team golf, and does the PGA Tour emerge stronger?
LIV made a big bet that fans wanted something other than the same-old tournament formats. It built franchises, assigned team captains, created uniforms — some uglier than others — and tried to make team competition central to its appeal. Now that the league is gone, it’s fair to wonder whether the concept goes with it. Or whether we’ll only see it regularly on TGL.
And then there’s that other team event, the Ryder Cup. Now that LIV is gone, the eligibility complications that threatened to keep big names off the squad seem likely to fade as well.
What effect will it have on the PGA Tour?
Elevated events. Larger purses. Greater emphasis on its biggest stars. LIV’s most tangible legacy might be the changes it inspired on the PGA Tour.
In LIV’s absence, that evolution continues, as the Tour has tweaked its structure and tournament schedule even as it looks for new sponsors and eyes venues, along with additional opportunities to gain new fans.
As a product, LIV failed. But it succeeded in exposing weaknesses in the game’s top circuit. The PGA Tour has emerged from the game’s civil war apparently stronger. Just how strong will be something to watch in seasons ahead.
