Am I sorry to see the back of LIV? What do you think? I hated it from day one and could never get my head around how anybody ever believed it could possibly become a financially viable model. And so it has turned out.
As LIV 2.0 limps towards the starting line, it is worth looking at who the biggest losers in all of this may be.
Of course it was all about money. If anybody involved tries to tell you that they signed up for any reason other than dosh they are telling porkies. It was NEVER about growing the game. There were huge contracts and signing-on fees. Or so we thought. It now transpires that most of them are owed millions.
My heart bleeds for them.
And for the officials who, despite LIV filing for bankruptcy, managed to secure massive bonus payments for themselves.
It now turns out that those who are still owed money have been offered ONE CENT in the dollar. Attempts to recover their money are ongoing but the bottom line is that many of them earned millions.
Who are the biggest losers in all of this?
In my view, head and shoulders above everybody else, is Phil Mickelson, whose reputation is in tatters. Accused of alleged non-consensual "inappropriate contact" with the female employee of a golf club he was previously a member of, he appears to have disappeared off the face of the earth, with the most recent reports being confirmation that he sought treatment for "family trauma and addiction".
(Image Credit: LIV Golf)
Jon Rahm signed a reputed $500m deal with LIV. And earned around $82m in prize money alone in his three seasons with LIV. However, the Spaniard was reported to be owed £5.5m for 2026 alone and a total of £75m outstanding on his original contract. He waived all rights to that money to secure the termination of his contract and is now looking to resume his career on the DP World Tour.
Dustin Johnson is currently involved in litigation with his former paymasters. He is one of a group of players attempting to negotiate with Saudi Arabia’s PIF to receive money they claim to be owed by LIV. It has been widely reported that they are owed around $100m.
According to The Athletic, Johnson and his lawyer, David Cornwell, is leading a group of players in attempting to negotiate a deal. Bubba Watson and Thomas Detry are also reportedly involved
Cornwell said: "Given their reliance on these promises, our group seeks a sensible severance payment as part of the wind-up of LIV. The decision to release potential claims against the PIF and join LIV 2.0 will be influenced largely by how the PIF manages the wind-up of LIV 1.0."
We all know how that is panning out. LIV’s biggest names have left in their droves.
The thing that gets lost in all of this is the fact that LIV have sacked around 90% of their workforce, with in the region of 270 individuals losing their jobs.
And that is without taking into account the revenue lost by courses who have hosted LIV tournaments in the past - the event in Adelaide attracted huge crowds and you can be absolutely certain that LIV 2.0 will fail to do so. If it even exists going forward.
The biggest question mark surrounds the future of Bryson DeChambeau. Rahm may well have been LIV’s highest-paid golfer, but DeChambeau is the man everybody came to watch. Speaking on the Figuring Out podcast, the two-time major champion was talking up the chances and opportunities presented by LIV 2.0. Without his backing, the league is surely doomed.
Of course, there are different ways to gauge winners and losers in all of this. Rahm may have lined his pockets but his form in the majors fell off a cliff during his time with LIV. And while Joaquin Niemann was a serial winner, he was unable to take that form into the majors - it will be fascinating to see whether this changes.
Perhaps the biggest winners in all of this going forward are genuine golf fans. First and foremost, the seismic rift that tore the sport asunder will be a thing of the past. Hopefully, unity finally beckons. Best of all is that we get the opportunity to see the likes of Rahm, Niemann, David Puig, Lucas Herbert and Tom McKibbin once more playing in mainstream golf tournaments.
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