LIV Golf paid US$15 million to retain executives before filing for bankruptcy

AP:

LIV Golf paid US$15.6 million in retention bonuses to seven executives, including US$6.375 million to chief executive officer Scott O’Neil, in the months between Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund announcing it would end financial support and the league filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The payments were disclosed in a series of documents filed late Thursday in US Bankruptcy Court in New Jersey.

The filings also detailed 129 payments to creditors in the 90 days before LIV’s bankruptcy filing, as well as US$26 million paid to Jon Rahm in the year leading up to the September 8 filing.

Another payment during that period went to Greg Norman, LIV’s first chief executive officer, who stepped down in January 2025. He received a US$5.8 million settlement and a US$3.6 million bonus on September 26, 2025.

LIV Golf is seeking to emerge from bankruptcy without the backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which reportedly invested more than US$5 billion in the circuit since its launch in June 2022 and handed out nine-figure bonuses to several leading players from the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

BC Partners Credit has pledged up to US$300 million to support what is being termed “LIV 2.0”.

A major component of that plan is retaining players, but several prominent names, including Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, Adrian Meronk and rising Spanish player David Puig, have either separated from LIV agreements or indicated their intention to leave.

Retention payments are not uncommon during bankruptcy proceedings as companies attempt to keep key personnel in place through restructuring.

Court documents show chief financial officer David Phillipps received a US$3.37 million retention payment, while chief legal officer John Ruzich received US$2.6 million. Both payments were made on June 24, the same day O’Neil received his US$6.375 million retention bonus.

O’Neil also collected a US$2.7 million bonus on February 13, two weeks before the outbreak of the Iran war and two months before the PIF board approved a new investment strategy that resulted in LIV Golf’s funding ending after the 2026 season.

Payments to players included Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau (nearly US$13.9 million), Dustin Johnson (US$10.7 million), and Cameron Smith and Bubba Watson, who each received about US$2.5 million.

LIV is also facing two lawsuits related to unpaid services.

Canada-based Mobbi Systems Group is seeking more than US$1 million for providing LIV’s “Any Shot, Any Time” broadcast feature, while Colorado-based Fresh Tape Media is seeking US$1.2 million for producing the league’s media preview days.

Both companies are listed among the 129 creditors holding unsecured claims.

O’Neil was asked at LIV’s final event in August about Fresh Tape Media and other companies that had not been paid, and how LIV planned to attract service providers in the future.

“What I would say to them is we’re doing everything we can to make sure we can do right by them and the work they committed, and I hope we can,” he said. “For the next generation, it will certainly be a different business with a different process.”

The list of creditors also provides an indication of the scale and cost of LIV’s global operations, which include 13 teams, on-course music and post-round concerts.

Among the claims listed are US$178,087.50 for the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers; US$105,018.06 for Applause App Quality; US$18,948 to Thailand-based Fenix Apparel and Accessories; and US$35,416.66 owed to broadcaster Jerry Foltz.

LIV’s bankruptcy proceedings are scheduled to continue with a hearing on November 5.

BC Partners had initially set a Sunday deadline for players to decide whether they would participate in LIV 2.0, although that deadline can be extended under an amended restructuring agreement.

The revamped model is targeting prize funds of approximately US$9 million per event, down from the previous US$20 million individual purses, with at least 10 tournaments and a greater emphasis on team golf.