BC Partners walks away, collapsing LIV Golf's bankruptcy relaunch

BC Partners has withdrawn as lead investor, collapsing LIV Golf's attempt to relaunch out of bankruptcy and pushing the Saudi-backed league toward liquidation of its remaining assets, the Financial Times and the Athletic reported Wednesday, citing anonymous sources.

The private capital firm walked after it struggled to convince several star players to commit fully to the league going forward, the reports said. LIV Golf did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund had poured an estimated $5bn into the tour since 2022 before pulling the plug earlier this year. LIV formally filed for bankruptcy protection in September, though officials vowed to relaunch as "LIV 2.0" next season with a shorter schedule, reduced prize money and equity stakes in the league for players. BC Partners Credit had pledged an initial funding commitment of a potential $300m.

Why did the star players walk?

Spain's Jon Rahm and Sergio García publicly announced their decisions to withdraw from the new version of the tour in recent weeks. Several others were believed to be on the fence. Bryson DeChambeau — arguably the breakaway circuit's biggest name, who continued to back the tour — never committed publicly to returning.

LIV's relaunch attempt grew more complicated after the DP World Tour reversed its policy of allowing golfers to play both tours, instead forcing players such as Rahm to choose. DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings told the Scotsman on Tuesday that he had a duty "to protect the Tour against an entity who spent, so we are told, over $7bn, with one of their aims being to 'destroy the DP World Tour'."

Rory McIlroy, an outspoken LIV critic, backed Kinnings on Wednesday, speaking before the DP World Tour playoff Abu Dhabi Championship event. "I agree with everything that Guy said. They took players; they took sponsors; they turned professional golf into an arms race. They were going around Augusta saying they wanted to destroy the European Tour," McIlroy said.

He also called out the league's shifting rhetoric. "It's ironic that a week later, now they are talking about 'completing and not competing' and all that. That's different from what they were saying at the start of the year."

What happens to the wreckage?

The tour is expected to appear at a Thursday hearing in a bankruptcy court in Trenton, New Jersey, to discuss various contracts, leases and assets. It remains unclear whether LIV's ultimate fate will also be on the agenda.

Bankruptcy filings show LIV owes between $500m and $1bn in estimated liabilities to at least 1,000 creditors, including star players. Rahm, DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson hold the largest unsecured claims against the tour, each totalling more than $5m.

What does McIlroy want next?

McIlroy, who plays on the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, believes men's golf needs a reset. "I think we'll look back on it as a very strange time," he said.

"It gave players a lot of leverage over the tours, and I don't necessarily think that's a good thing for the overall health of the professional game. I think there has to be a balance there. There has to be a bit of give and take," he said.

Still, he acknowledged the financial upside for players. "I've said this from the start, like there's never been a better time to be a professional golfer. Talk to Jack Nicklaus or any of these older guys, they would have loved LIV to come around in their day. They would have made more money, and we are all making more money because of it. But I do think there has to be a bit of a reset."

He also predicted the collapse was structurally inevitable. "It was always going to be good for a few years until something like this happened, or they realised they weren't going to get any return on investment, or they were going to leave the golf space and go invest in something else and invest in something that would actually make them money," McIlroy said.

Thursday's Trenton hearing will determine how the league's contracts and assets get distributed — and how much of the $500m-to-$1bn creditor pile players like Rahm and Johnson actually recover.