Jon Rahm walks away from LIV Golf as the league's bankruptcy drags on
Rahm told a bankruptcy court he is done with LIV Golf's next phase, leaving the Saudi-backed tour short one of its biggest stars as it tries to climb out of Chapter 11.
Why bankruptcy is trending
Bankruptcy is trending because LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed tour, is in federal court trying to survive, and Wednesday's hearing produced actual news. Jon Rahm's attorney, John Beck, told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael B. Kaplan that Rahm is leaving the league. Beck said Rahm reviewed the terms of what the league calls LIV 2.0 and decided those terms are unacceptable to him.
Here is what we know. Rahm is out, and his side is working with LIV to finalize a separation agreement by Oct. 15. Here is what we don't know yet. Where Rahm plays in 2027 is still open. PGA Tour commissioner Brian Rolapp said on Sept. 15 the tour has no current plans to revive the Returning Member Program that let players who left for LIV come back under conditions. Brooks Koepka used that exact program to return in January. What happens next is the bankruptcy case keeps moving, with LIV saying it has new financing lined up to get through restructuring.
The numbers behind the filing
LIV Golf and related entities filed for Chapter 11 protection on Sept. 8. Court records list the league with $100 million to $500 million in assets against $500 million to $1 billion in liabilities. Rahm's $7.5 million claim was the largest among the players named in the 30 biggest unsecured claims, ahead of Bryson DeChambeau ($5.7 million), Dustin Johnson ($5.5 million), Cameron Smith ($4.8 million), Tyrrell Hatton ($3.4 million) and Koepka ($1.7 million). Those figures cover past-due payments only, not everything owed beyond the filing date. Rahm is believed to be owed more than $100 million total.
Back in May, Rahm said he had multiple years left on his contract and didn't see many ways out of it, adding he wasn't ready to think about it with majors still to play. The bankruptcy filing changed that math.
What Rahm built and left behind
Rahm signed with LIV in December 2023, months after winning his second Masters, in a deal reportedly worth more than $300 million over multiple years. He won four LIV events and took the league's season-long individual title in each of his three seasons there. In May, Rahm also resolved his dispute with the European tour and is now a DP World Tour member.
He isn't the only one pushing back on LIV 2.0. The league already agreed to terminate Sergio Garcia's contract. Lawyers for DeChambeau, Smith, An Byeong-hun, Marc Leishman, Cameron Tringale and Matthew Wolff asked the judge to let them out of their old deals too, though getting released wouldn't stop any of them from signing onto LIV 2.0 later if they chose to.
What happens next
LIV secured financing of up to $300 million from BC Partners Credit this week to help it get through restructuring before the 2027 season, though that money still needs bankruptcy court approval. Under the plan, players would become equity owners in the league and its teams. LIV CEO Scott O'Neil has talked up changes coming in this next version of the tour. What's missing from that pitch now is Rahm, the most accomplished player the tour poached from the PGA Tour alongside DeChambeau, and for now nobody has said where he tees it up in 2027.
Facts per ESPN, Al Jazeera. Opinion is the taproom's.