From the moment he was born, LIFE Golf raised questions, many of which are now answered because, well, LIV Golf is dead. His last breaths came Thursday at a bankruptcy hearing in New Jersey, where his lawyers announced that the league was done and dusted, its only remaining move being full liquidation.
LIV’s death, however, does not solve everything. The questions stop. Here are six burning ones.
What’s next for Bryson DeChambeau?
Even as LIV lay on his deathbed, many of his co-stars announced that they were free. His biggest name, meanwhile, remained engaged, or at least half-heartedly, like the relative who couldn’t bring himself to leave the hospital, but still couldn’t bear to sit in the room.
In the not-so-distant past, DeChambeau pondered out loud the possibility of becoming a full-time YouTube golfer. If you believe that, we have a matching Alien wedge to sell you. No chance of that happening. DeChambeau he has too many other options.
The DP World Tour said it offered him an automatic exemption and a path back into its membership, giving him the opportunity to compete internationally and re-enter the established golf ecosystem. A return to the PGA Tour is less straightforward. It is not clear what kind of return paths Brian Rolapp and his crew in Ponte Vedra could offer.
Meanwhile, DeChambeau has no immediate major league concerns. His 2024 US Open victory guarantees him a spot in that event until 2034, as well as exemptions in the Masters, PGA Championship and Open Championship until 2029.
How many other LIV players can find their way back?
As for LIV’s other household names — Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia among them — the circumstances vary. All of the above have returned to the DP World Tour, but not all under the same terms and conditions.
The PGA Tour is a more obscure matter. Their brass made it clear they weren’t just rolling out the welcome mat. The path that Brooks Koepka followed (making a charitable donation and losing the FedEx Cup bonus money, among other grants through the program of returning members of the Tour) is no longer open. The most likely role model is Patrick Reed (raise your hand if you never expected to see that sentence) who left LIV in January and is now about to get his Tour card back by virtue of his play on the DP World Tour.
How will the returning stars fare?
DeChambeau and Koepka both won majors while playing for LIV. But other stars have been a mixed bag in the biggies. Cameron Smith mostly looked as if he preferred to finish. Rahm, the defending Masters champion when he left for LIV in 2023, has five top 10s in majors since then, but no wins. You are drifting.
The other kind of winning involves winning hearts and minds, which raises the question of how warmly (or coldly) LIV defectors will be received. It’s hard to say for sure. But a lot will certainly depend on the reputation of each player before leaving for LIV, the way in which he left, and how he performs when he returns to the big stage.
Who gets paid, and who is left holding the bag?
The financial wreckage extends far beyond LIV’s players and investors. His bankruptcy filings show liabilities estimated at between $500 million and $1 billion, with a long list of creditors waiting to collect that includes media partners, vendors and even charities.
How much of that money anyone will actually see is another matter. Since LIV’s reported assets exceed their reported assets, it seems safe to assume that some parties will be stiffed.
What happens to team golf?
LIV made a big bet that fans wanted something other than the same tournament formats. He built franchises, assigned team captains, created uniforms — some uglier than others — and tried to make team competition central to his appeal. Now that the league is gone, it’s fair to wonder if the concept is going with it. Or if we’re just going to see it regularly on TGL.
And then there’s that other team event, the Ryder Cup. Now that LIV is gone, the eligibility complications that threatened to keep big names off the team also seem likely to have vanished.
What effect will it have on the PGA Tour?
High events. Larger bags. Greater emphasis on its biggest stars. LIV’s most tangible legacy might be the changes it inspired on the PGA Tour.
In the absence of LIV, this evolution continues, as the Tour has adjusted its structure and tournament schedule even as it seeks new sponsors and sees new venues, with additional opportunities to gain new fans.
As a product, LIV failed. But he succeeded in exposing the weaknesses in the game’s top circuit. The PGA Tour emerged from the game’s civil war seemingly stronger. How strong it will be will be something to watch in the seasons ahead.