LIV Golf didn't generate this much suspense at tournaments when the music was blaring, the Saudi cash was flowing freely and players from the Cleeks and Majestics headed off in carts for the shotgun start.
Every day, there's more speculation. Who's leaving? Who's staying? Weren't these the same questions four years ago?
It was May 31, 2022, when a group of golf writers out to dinner in Ohio received emails announcing the field for the inaugural LIV Golf event — Dustin Johnson and 12 other PGA Tour members — and had to leave before the crème brûlée arrived.
And now another waiting game, not for the launch but whether LIV survives.
LIV Golf is working through Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a pledge of $300 million from BC Partners Credit, a far cry from the $5 billion the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia dropped in four years before abruptly pulling the plug.
Key to the "LIV 2.0" version — at least 10 tournaments, player equity and prize money half of what it used to be — is getting a "critical mass" of players to buy into the plan.
How many players comprise a critical mass is unclear. And while LIV officials don't plan to announce each decision piecemeal, players are doing that for them.
Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia have court-approved separations from LIV and are free to go.
Louis Oosthuizen, Ian Poulter, Tom McKibbin and Adrian Meronk have said they are leaving.
Graeme McDowell added his name to the list Monday with a succinct message on social media.
Adding a wrinkle to the immediate future of LIV was a report by The Athletic that Johnson was among more than 10 players seeking severance deals from PIF worth more than $100 million in contract payments. Johnson's attorney suggested a deal was tied to players sticking with LIV 2.0.
"The decision to release potential claims against the PIF and join LIV 2.0 will be influenced largely by how the PIF manages the windup of LIV 1.0," David Cornwell told The Athletic.
An amended restructuring agreement approved by the New Jersey bankruptcy court indicates LIV no longer has a hard deadline for players to decide. The hope was to have a decision by the end of the month. LIV remains bullish about a 2027 season.
That won't be the end of the drama, however, and it would seem the golf landscape is still a long way off from being stitched back together, if it ever can be.
The PGA Tour has yet to say whether defectors — currently banned for one year from the date of their last LIV appearance — have a place. It's not a high priority as the tour seeks to fill out its lucrative "Championship Series" schedule in 2028 and find sponsors for the second tier.
