Rory McIlroy says LIV Golf wasted its money as bankruptcy saga drags on
McIlroy says LIV's Saudi-backed money could have been spent better, as the league's Chapter 11 case moves toward a decision on LIV 2.0 by the end of October.
Why Rory McIlroy is trending today
Rory McIlroy is trending because he spent part of Tuesday talking about LIV Golf's money problems at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi, right as LIV's bankruptcy case took another turn in a New Jersey federal courtroom. McIlroy, who never signed with LIV and was one of the loudest voices against it back in 2022, said the breakaway league had a decent idea but ran it badly and burned through cash it could have used elsewhere in the sport.
Here's what's known. LIV Golf is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a federal judge just approved major steps in its restructuring, and an attorney for the league says LIV should know by the end of October whether it folds or moves forward as LIV 2.0. Here's what's not settled yet. Whether LIV 2.0 actually launches, and which players stick around if it does. What happens next is a deadline. Golfers have until Nov. 16 to decide whether to apply for DP World Tour membership for next season, a decision now tangled up with LIV's own fate.
What McIlroy actually said
McIlroy, a six-time major winner, told the forum that LIV had, in his words, half of a good idea executed pretty poorly. He said the league had plenty of capital but wasted a good chunk of it, and that the money could have gone further if LIV had partnered with golf's existing governing bodies instead of just paying tour pros who were already well off.
He also looked back at 2022, when he and Tiger Woods became the two biggest public opponents of LIV as it launched. McIlroy said they both had the most to lose in terms of their standing on the PGA Tour, but believed then that the league was bad for the game. He said that as things stand now, pro golf's civil war looks finished, and that even a surviving LIV 2.0 would not be the threat to the traditional tours it once looked like.
Where the bankruptcy case actually stands
In bankruptcy court this week, Judge Michael B. Kaplan approved LIV's request to reject the current contracts of 19 golfers, including Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson. LIV says those deals don't match the pay structure planned for LIV 2.0 and wants to renegotiate from scratch, dangling equity in the new league to keep players in the fold.
Kaplan also signed off on an amended restructuring deal in which BC Partners would put up as much as $300 million to fund LIV 2.0, starting with a $4 million loan to keep the lights on during Chapter 11. LIV's attorney, Robert Fitzgerald, also used the hearing to go after the DP World Tour. CEO Guy Kinnings told BBC Sport his tour will no longer give conditional status to golfers who join LIV 2.0 in 2027, unlike past seasons when players such as Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton held cards on both tours. Fitzgerald called the timing a clear attempt to interfere with LIV's players and its reorganization, and said the judge agreed it raised real anti-competitive concerns.
What happens next
The Nov. 16 deadline for DP World Tour membership applications is the next real pressure point, since it forces golfers to pick a side before LIV even knows if it's surviving. LIV has already been bleeding talent during the bankruptcy process. Jon Rahm left the league, David Puig and Adrian Meronk followed, and Sergio Garcia had his LIV contract terminated, with other players' attorneys reportedly working to do the same.
None of that guarantees how this ends. LIV's attorney says the league should have an answer on its own future by the end of October, and that answer, along with how many of the 19 players with rejected contracts choose to sign new ones, will decide whether LIV 2.0 is a real league or a footnote.