As LIV Golf’s bankruptcy grinds through a New Jersey courtroom, Sergio Garcia — one of the league’s original stars — appeared to open the door for a possible exit on Wednesday.
In a six-page filing, Garcia’s attorney asked for clarity regarding the Spaniard’s agreement with LIV Golf. “Termination of the agreement is consistent with [LIV Golf’s] statement that the agreement is ‘not part of [LIV Golf’s] go forward business plan” and, accordingly, should not be objectionable to [LIV Golf],” Garcia’s attorneys argued.
LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy on Sept. 8 as part of a restructuring plan after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced in April it would end funding of the league after the 2026 season. At the league’s final event in August, CEO Scott O’Neil unveiled LIV Golf 2.0 and a plan to secure new funding but launching that required Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
According to industry sources, LIV Golf has received verbal commitments from a significant number of players to put the league well above the requisite player support threshold to secure future funding, but Garcia’s filing suggests he’s keeping his options open.
In the filing, Garcia’s attorney said he does not oppose LIV Golf releasing players from existing contracts as part of the bankruptcy restructuring but requests the court to either end Garcia’s agreement with LIV Golf or allow Garcia to do end it.
“So long as the agreement remains of record, tournament organizers, sponsors, and other counterparties may hesitate before dealing with Garcia, who may be unable to represent that they are free of competing contractual commitments,” Garcia’s lawyers wrote, arguing the move that would give the 2017 Masters winner more flexibility as he plans the next phases of his career.
Garcia recently confirmed he plans to play the DP World Tour in 2027.
“It’s obviously something that I’ve always said that I wanted to do,” he said at last month’s BMW International Open.
Elsewhere in the case
In a flurry of filings in the bankruptcy case this week, Kooyonga Golf Club in Australia, which contracted with LIV Golf to host an event next March, requested an expedited ruling to either assume or reject its current contract with LIV Golf within 30 days and reimburse the club for costs associated with next year’s event.
The club claims “out-of-pocket expenses” of about $134,000 from October through December.
The court also appointed a seven-member “committee of unsecured creditors” which will represent the interests of the unsecured creditors in this case and influence the restructuring of LIV Golf. That committee includes representatives from Premier Golf League, Tennessee-based Birdie Golf LLC, London-based Rick Shiels Media Limited and Fever Labs Inc.
The next hearing in LIV Golf’s bankruptcy case is scheduled for Oct. 7.
A look at the timeline of events that led to LIV Golf’s creation, to where things now stand with the circuit following Tuesday’s bankruptcy filing in New Jersey.