Lucas Herbert knows you probably won’t believe him. given how things have developed in pro golf in the last five years, it is understandable. But the Australian says he is leaving LIV Golf for reasons that go beyond his wallet.
“I’m not super caught up in how much money I’ve played, and I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of people who hear this, they’re going to think I’m talking a load of shit,” Herbert said. him Tee It Up Podcast. “But really, for me, I wanted to see my game improve, I wanted to give myself the best chance to play well in the majors and compete in the majors and have opportunities like I had in Birkdale this year.”
Herbert joined LIV Golf in 2024 as a member of Cameron Smith’s Ripper GC. He made more than $25 million on the course during his three seasons on the then Saudi league, including wins at LIV Golf Virginia and LIV Golf New York in 2026. Herbert’s strong play at LIV translated into major success in 2026, where he engineered a weekend run at the 2026 Open at Royal Birkdale en route to a final.
But things are different for LIV Golf now, or at least what’s left of the runaway league. With the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia withdrawing its funding, the the league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in September. LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil assured an investment of up to $300 million from BC Partners Global to support LIV Golf 2.0, but that money depends on the league maintaining what BC Partners Global believes is a “critical mass” of players to support a global golf league.
With LIV sinking into bankruptcy court, many players jumped ship. Jon Rahm’s attorney told the New Jersey bankruptcy court that Rahm found the terms of LIV Golf 2.0 “unacceptable”. Tyrrell Hatton, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and others they also came out, citing different reasons or none at all.
Herbert is also among the players who saluted the former artist called LIV Golf. But he said Tee It Up that their reasons were not monetary, but based on a lack of opportunities to play, which would be detrimental to their overall goals.
“From what it sounds, (LIV Golf 2.0 will be) 10 tournaments. We are told that there will potentially be more events to play outside of those as extra game opportunities,” said Herbert. “I’m not sure how they’re going to do that work. I’m not sure what kind of fields they’re going to be. I don’t know what kind of places they’re going to be able to access. Ten events are not enough to build a season around.
“You can maybe sneak a couple more here, but the more you play, the lower the quality is. It’s quality over quantity. And it won’t give me enough access to the majors, which now, this is the priority of my career, and that’s how I formulated the decision I reached.”
The Saudi version of LIV Golf featured 14 annual events around the world, but players also had the ability to tee up on the DP World Tour if they were members or received a sponsor’s invitation, which helped them stay strong when LIV was on hiatus. That will no longer be an option in 2027, as DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings said any player participating in LIV Golf 2.0 will not be allowed to play on the European Circuit.
There is also, worth noting, a monetary difference between LIV 1.0 and 2.0. With the PIF no longer funding LIV, the scholarships are expected to drop substantially from the $30 million scholarships that have kept the league afloat since 2022.
All of which led to a mass exodus from LIV.
But despite Rahm, Hatton, Herbert and others scrambling for the exits, LIV remains optimistic about its prospects of keeping enough players to restart the league. That includes Bryson DeChambeau, who he said Watching the podcast that he is actively working to get LIV 2.0 off the ground.
“It will be done right and this will be a league that will be around hopefully forever,” DeChambeau said. “It’s not competitive. We’re not trying to compete against the tour. We’re trying to be creative. We’re trying to bring value anywhere and everywhere in the golf market around the world.
U Amended Restructuring Support Agreement between LIV Golf and BC Partners Global indicates that there is no longer a deadline for players to sign up to LIV 2.0 and that BC Partners now has full discretion to decide whether they have enough players to continue with the restarted league. LIV’s lawyers told the bankruptcy court he expected to know by the end of October if they were clearing things up or growing for version 2.0. November is here, and the league remains in limbo as it works through Chapter 11.
DeChambeau may also be on boardbut Rahm, Herbert, and others left — whether for money, schedule, or something else. The truth behind their reasoning? As is always the case in this era of pro golf, it is it probably lies somewhere in the middle.
