Bryson DeChambeau says LIV Golf 2.0 is “going to be done right.” The two-time U.S. Open champion addressed the league’s bankruptcy for the first time on Raj Shamani’s Figuring Out podcast.
The episode was released about 24 hours after LIV’s October 30 deadline for players to commit to the new league. DeChambeau, 33, has played for LIV since 2022 and captains Crushers GC.
“The point of it is that the team golf stuff, I was very excited about,” DeChambeau said. “I really care, and I still do care deeply about the team golf stuff. And the top co just wasn’t really managed that effectively. And I know now…”
“I didn’t know that during the time. Our teams were doing very well. Like our teams, we generated almost $29 million last year in revenue. We had $21 million in cost just from payment of players and expenses and travel and everything.”
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“So we made $8 million EBITDA last year. And the teams were doing well, but then all the player payments and everything got pushed down to the teams when they went bankrupt because the top co wasn’t being run effectively,” he said. “Which, no fault to each other, it’s just we thought that there was a lot more capital that was going to be at play with the guys that were funding it. Yeah. And it didn’t work out…”
LIV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in New Jersey on September 8. Court documents estimated the league’s liabilities at between $500 million and $1 billion, and the filings have since revealed player payments. The move followed Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announcing it would stop funding the league after the 2026 season.
DeChambeau said the new version of the league is being built differently. “But the business model makes a lot of sense. And we’re actually working through that right now for this new model where it will make full financial sense,” he said. “It’s no funny business, no nothing. It’s going to be done right. And this is going to be a league, hopefully, that exists forever. It’s not combative.”
“We’re not trying to compete against the tour. We want to be accretive. We want to bring value to anywhere and everywhere in the golf market across the world,” he added.
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DeChambeau also explained why players received large upfront payments in LIV’s original model. “And so, you know, that whole LIV situation was great. We had to get upfront payment because we had no real governance, you know. If we knew, like, they were going to control how this thing was run, like we had to get paid, you know,” he said.
“And so we did. And then this time around, it’s more the opposite. We’re not really getting paid, but we do have the governance, you know, control.”
LIV has agreed to terms on a $300 million financing package from BC Partners, but the deal requires enough player commitments. Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia are among the players who have announced they are leaving.
The player commitment deadline was originally October 24 before being pushed to October 30. Deadspin reported that 15 to 20 players have committed to return.
