LIV Golf is bankrupt, and the players who burned their PGA Tour bridges are the ones holding the bill
The Saudi-backed breakaway circuit filed for Chapter 11 protection Tuesday with up to $1 billion in liabilities, leaving Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and a roster of former major champions as unsecured creditors owed millions.
In brief
The bill has come due for professional golf's four-year Saudi experiment
It ended not with a thunderous drive down the 18th fairway but with a court filing in New Jersey. LIV Golf and its related entities voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday, September 8, pulling back the curtain on a financial wreck that had been forming for months. The numbers are staggering. The league indicated it had between $100 million and $500 million in assets and $500 million to $1 billion in liabilities. The players who gambled their careers on LIV's Saudi riches are now listed as unsecured creditors in a federal bankruptcy docket.
This was not a surprise to anyone paying attention. The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia officially announced it would stop funding LIV Golf after the 2026 season, and once that was public, the math was never going to work. The golfing upstart was able to pull big stars away from the PGA Tour, but ultimately struggled to attract TV deals, sponsors and fans. LIV Golf's non-U.S. operations reported losing nearly $600 million in 2024. When your primary backer is spending nine figures a month and generating almost nothing in return, the reckoning is a matter of when, not whether.
Who is owed what
The creditor list, filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, reads like a Who's Who of the players who bet biggest on LIV's future. Jon Rahm ($7.5 million), Bryson DeChambeau ($5.7 million), Dustin Johnson ($5.5 million), Cameron Smith ($4.8 million), Tyrrell Hatton ($3.4 million) and Brooks Koepka ($1.7 million) are among the league's creditors with the 30 largest unsecured claims, according to court records.
Those figures alone are eye-catching, but they almost certainly understate the full exposure. The Chapter 11 filing lists 30 creditors, with the Financial Times reporting that the amounts shown represent LIV's third-quarter obligations for 2026 rather than the entire remaining value of player contracts. Rahm sits at the top of the list and is owed $7.5 million for the third quarter. More significantly, he is believed to have more than $100 million outstanding from the reported $450 million agreement that brought him to LIV.
Dustin Johnson is listed as owed approximately $5.4 million, with his claim flagged as "contingent, unliquidated and disputed," indicating LIV is contesting at least part of it. More than 20 additional players appear on LIV's list of top creditors, which totals $64.2 million combined, according to a Reuters review of the filing. And those are only the claims that were already due when the filing hit the docket. The total exposure across multi-year contracts is a separate, much larger number that remains unresolved.
Where the money went, and who saw this coming
The PIF invested more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since its first tournament in June 2022 and was reportedly spending $100 million per month during the 2026 season. None of it was sustainable. In a statement, the PIF said that the "substantial investment required is no longer consistent" with the fund's investment strategy moving forward. In April, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor who had been the driving force behind the league's creation, resigned as LIV's chairman. The exit signs had been up for a while.
LIV Golf's facade began to crumble late in 2025 when Koepka suddenly announced he was leaving a year before his contract was to expire. He was quickly brought back by the PGA Tour, signaling that the circuit was more willing to negotiate with notable golfers who wanted to return now that CEO Brian Rolapp is in charge. Koepka had been granted a return through the PGA Tour's Returning Member Programme, a scheme that was only available for a limited period and to elite players who had won a major championship or The Players Championship between 2022 and 2025. The scheme was designed to target DeChambeau, Smith, Rahm and Koepka, but the latter was the only one to accept the deal. Koepka's pathway back included some stipulations, including no access to equity grants for five years, a $5 million charity donation, and no bonus money this year.
Koepka, despite the conditions, took the deal. Rahm, DeChambeau, Johnson and Smith did not. That decision now looks very different from this side of a bankruptcy filing.
What comes next, for the league and the players
LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection while announcing a proposed restructuring agreement that could transfer majority ownership of the league to its players. Under the proposed restructuring, London-based private-equity firm BC Partners would finance an attempted return in 2027 through what LIV described as a "recapitalization transaction." The plan requires court approval. The organization is also seeking recognition of its Chapter 11 proceedings in England and Wales in an effort to protect its international assets and operations during the restructuring.
Whether BC Partners actually follows through is another question. BC Partners has ties to GSE Worldwide, the agency representing a sizable portion of LIV's roster. Questions remain about the nature of the firm's commitment, including whether the financing is structured as a loan, dependent upon additional investors or contingent upon a number of players remaining with the league.
Rahm was guarded when reporters caught up with him at the Amgen Irish Open the same week the filing became public. Rahm offered little indication of his plans when questioned at the Amgen Irish Open shortly before the bankruptcy filing became public. "There's just a lot of things in place, right?" Rahm told BBC Sport. "There's a lot of things that could happen, and it's one of those things where time's going to tell." He also said he remained willing to fulfill his agreement with what he called "LIV 1.0." That version of LIV, however, is now effectively finished.
Industry insiders have suggested that the two-time major champion left the LIV Golf players-and-officials WhatsApp group over the summer. DeChambeau, for his part, has tried to stay upbeat. DeChambeau suggested there is "a lot of potential moving forward," adding that he believes there is "something fun coming." PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, for his part, drew a clear line. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Rolapp said: "We're interested in having the best players who can help our tour. Not every player can do that."
That is not a warm welcome mat.
The PGA Tour is likely to negotiate some returns on its own terms. Whether Rahm, owed over $100 million he may never see, finds those terms acceptable is a conversation that has barely started. Drew Stoltz, a PGA Tour player, said of DeChambeau: "I think Bryson might stick around. If there is a LIV 2.0, I think they are gonna give him half the league in equity. And he might just want to be the show."
What the show would look like without Saudi billions, in a bankruptcy court's jurisdiction, playing 72-hole events nobody watched on television, is harder to picture than DeChambeau's YouTube channel.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
