With LIV Golf’s doomsday clock at one minute to midnight, the futures of its marquee stars, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, are up in the air.
DeChambeau and Rahm were lured from the PGA Tour to LIV in the space of 18 months between 2022 and 2023, when the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) were still all in on the rebel tour.
They were tempted by the prospect of building team golf. Their contracts – worth $125m and $300m respectively – as well as prize purses of $30m-plus at each of LIV’s 14 events probably helped too.
Now, with PIF now $5bn in the hole and intending to stop funding the tour by the end of the 2026 season if not sooner, both players are watching from the sidelines as LIV’s executive branch seek a rescue package worth up to $350m, courting private equity titans, family offices and individual billionaires.
DeChambeau’s deal expires at the end of 2026. In mid-April, reports suggested he was in discussions over a new contract and wanted $500m to stay on. “As long as LIV is here, I would figure out a way for it to make sense,” he said. Fast-forward just two months and it appears the 32-year-old, whose personality and influencer-style following makes him perhaps the league’s most valuable asset, is in purgatory.
Rahm, whose deal is worth $300m, even more so. He is committed to LIV Golf until the end of 2029. Unlike some of his fellow pros, he has distanced himself from helping Scott O’Neil, Gene Davis and Jon Zinman to find the investment the tour needs to continue. “It’s my job to play golf,” he said when asked.
LIV’s restructuring efforts could involve reducing the number of events to 10, offering players equity in their teams, and potentially filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
And while PIF’s announcement stated that they were invested until the end of the season, some reports suggest that they might not even get that far.
There is over a month to go until the UK swing, where $30m in prize money will be shared across the individual and team events.
Speaking to Skratch Golf, an anonymous agent has now suggested one potential way that Rahm, DeChambeau or any of their peers could potentially get out of their deals.
“The contract we signed calls for 14 tournaments with purses of at least $25 million. If they put together a smaller schedule for less money, which is obviously the only path forward, the contract we signed is voided. At least, that’s how we see it. If they disagree, the lawyers are going to have to sort it out.”
LIV could yet secure the investment needed to keep going into 2027 and beyond. Alternatively, bankruptcy could give them some breathing space as creditors look for payment.
But the tour can only limp on for so long without PIF’s support.
DeChambeau has a get-out in that his deal expires soon, but Rahm’s situation is more complex.
That may be why reports earlier this month suggested he was even hoping that PIF missed payments to LIV, allowing him to void his contract ahead of schedule.
