A deadline, by definition, is hard and fast … unless you’re trying to stop a multi-billion dollar disruptor golf league from going down the drain, it seems.
October 30 was the reported ‘deadline’ for LIV Golf to secure enough players for a 2.0 version, backed by US$300 million (A$430m) from new investor BC Partners.
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Already extended from an October 25 deadline, this week has instead only served to confirm departures — rather than the other way around — while further clouding the futures of those in limbo, such as Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau.
The only thing that is certain is that LIV Golf remains firmly on the brink of being legally bankrupt, and that the league will continue to fight tooth and nail to avoid that grim reality.
LIV Golf will do so even if it means leaving some of its biggest starts, and its strongest tournament, in the dark.
The future of its showpiece tournament in Adelaide sits in muddy waters with the South Australian Premier making it clear that the state has no intention of paying for anything less than a world class product.
“There’s a critical date on the 2nd of November, I think it is, for their financial restructuring and then we’ll see,” Peter Malinauskas said on SEN this week.
“We anticipate that at some point in the next two or three weeks, we’re going to know one way or another whether or not they’re playing at Kooyonga in March next year.
“They’ve been in town the last few days and they’re telling all of our officials that they’re planning to be here in March and that things are coming together.”
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Coming together might be a stretch when you consider the lack of player commitments so far.
There are reports of just 15 players making tentative commitments to LIV 2.0, which would see BC Partners take the place of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund as the chief money source.
Of those 15, the only public shows of intent are from Richard Bland, Cameron Tringale, Brendan Steele and Kiwi Ben Campbell, while it has been reported France’s Victor Perez intends to stay.
They are fine golfers, but not the A-listers Malinauskas intends to pay for — and South Australia’s commitment could prove crucial to the success of a LIV Golf rebirth given its strength and optics.
“It’s very important to us they keep the likes of Cam Smith and Bryson DeChambeau in that playing roster; that underpins the success of the event,” Malinauskas said.
As the deadline loomed large, foxsports.com.au contacted several key figures in Australian golf with knowledge of the situation regarding LIV and players from these shores.
The fact that these figures, so typically in the know, were unable to shed any further light speaks to the remarkable cone of silence that now surrounds the embattled league.
Smith and DeChambeau remain the biggest mysteries having still given no indication of their plans for 2027.
One of the prized signings for LIV in the wake of his Open Championship victory at St Andrews in 2022, Smith’s situation is complex given he is captain of the all-Aussie Ripper GC, which he is believed to have some level of ownership of.
But there are certainly cracks. Having long been one of LIV Golf’s staunchest supporters, he spoke last month with a new level of uncertainty.
“It’s hard to make a decision when you don’t have at least some of the answers to make the right decision, or (any) decision. We need a few more answers,” Smith told Evin Priest of the Sydney Morning Herald last month.
The only member of Ripper GC to confirm his future is Lucas Herbert, who is leaving to play full time on the DP World Tour.
His departure has added to the level of angst that is facing the would-be new host of Adelaide’s LIV Golf event, Kooyonga Golf Club, which expected to welcome more than 100,000 fans early next year.
Instead, it has alerted its members to filings made to the New Jersey bankruptcy court overseeing LIV’s Chapter 11 proceedings earlier this month.
The club is seeking confirmation by November 6 whether LIV Golf will proceed with its agreement to host the Kooyonga event, and
It has also demanded to have “projected costs the club will incur to meet its obligations under the agreement while LIV Golf makes its decision covered, including out-of-pocket expenses and bookings the club can’t accept while the course is held for the event.”
As that deadline looms, Kooyonga only knows who definitely won’t be visiting Australia early next year.
Jon Rahm is out.
So, too, his fellow major winners Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen and Graeme McDowell, while Patrick Reed and Brooks Koepka are already gone.
Garcia confirmed the worst kept secret on Thursday, saying he will be playing on the DP World Tour and is open to a PGA Tour return.
“This tour has been a huge part of my career from the very beginning, and I’m proud to call it home again. I’m also keeping my options open for a return to the PGA Tour,” he said, years after slating the PGA Tour on exit.
Fellow pro Eddie Pepperell certainly hasn’t forgotten.
“This has to be Sergio trolling us? Surely. Elite level shithousery, this. Or has he got dementia?” he posted on X.
“To be clear, I think Sergio Garcia is still a wonderful player. He was my favourite golfer growing up, ahead of Tiger. And I can see the value he still brings, ahead of me certainly.
“But his statement today shows a remarkable lack of self awareness. Like, a stunning amount.”
Meanwhile, Tyrrell Hatton and Braden Grace confirmed their departures alongside winners of non-LIV tournaments in Australia Ian Poulter, Abraham Ancer and David Puig, the champion at last year’s Australian PGA.
Where exactly those players will ply their trade going forward creates further questions. They have varied levels of status on the DP World Tour, while others are likely to rely on tournament invitations.
What’s certain is that the PGA Tour is not an immediate option, given they face a 12 month ban from their last LIV start.
It leaves the DP World Tour as the most popular avenue for 2027. There have been rumours of 8-10 starts being made available for players who join the LIV exodus, yet nothing has been confirmed.
Players hoping that deal comes to fruition could include multiple major winner Dustin Johnson, who The Athletic reports is part of a group of 10 LIV golfers — which also includes Bubba Watson and Thomas Detry — seeking more than US$100 million in severance pay from the PIF.
Johnson and Watson were part of the list of LIV Golf creditors released, as part of Chapter 11 Proceedings, which also highlighted Queenslander Smith as being owed US$4.8 million.
Non-players, including vendors, are also reportedly seeking outstanding payments. It’s a long list, and one that might’ve been slightly miffed when it was revealed Scott O’Neil, the CEO of LIV Golf, and other executives received substantial payments in the final days of LIV 1.0.
Court records show O’Neil received more than US$6 million in retention payments, which totalled US$15.6 million across the executive staff.
That figure will no doubt raise eyebrows among Smith, and his fellow Aussies Marc Leishman and rising star Elvis Smylie, who lost his DP World Tour playing rights at the end of last week when the regular season ended.
Qualifying School is an option for some players, while Herbert announced via Instagram that he is seeking a different kind of new start.
The Victorian, who won two LIV events this year and fired a magical 62 at this year’s Open Championship, is turning his attention to the Australian summer, where he will contest the NSW Open, Australian PGA, Australian Open and Cathedral Invitational.
“One of the things I’m passionate about is trying to help back home, back in Australia, whether it be junior sport, particularly junior golf, or you know mates in general, Australian foundations, Australian companies, that sort of thing,” Herbert said in an Instagram reel.
“I want you guys to reach out if you are small business owner, if you know a small business owner, if someone in the family, some friends, whoever, I want to wear some apparel.
“I have no tie to a hat sponsor coming back home this year, and I would love to wear some local business merchandise to support you guys.”
Not looking for any payment or services, Herbert’s efforts will no doubt endear him to the Aussie public.
Winning over the rank and file players on the DP World Tour, where he is a three-time winner, might be harder, as explained by the outspoken Pepperell.
“I have two ways of thinking about what it would mean to potentially lose out on playing opportunities in 2027 to guys who as Joost Luiten adequately put it, ’didn’t give a shit about the Tour’ back in 2022/23 when they joined LIV Golf,” he wrote in his Chipping Forecast Substack.
“Firstly, and coming from an emotional standpoint which by now, though still festering, has calmed down, would feel like an absolute betrayal.”
Not mentioning Herbert by name Pepperell, a vocal critic of LIV Golf from the outset, covers numerous topics in his writings — but returning LIV players on the DP World Tour promises to be a big issue.
So, too, who else is in and who else is out on deadline day — if that day ever materialises in actuality to allow some certainty.
Everyone is well and truly waiting already.