Rory wants 'tough road' back for LIV stars as CEO answers lawsuits, bankruptcy claims

More reports have emerged of lawsuits being lodged against LIV for unpaid debts ahead of the slimmed-down season finale in Indianapolis this week where prizemoney has been drastically reduced.

Individual prizemoney has been halved from the regular $28m on offer at events.  

The team championship will also be contested in the final event after the planned extravaganza in Michigan was dumped from the LIV schedule in the wake of the Saudi Public Investment Fund pulling its billions on funding.  

While LIV has found a “lead investor” it’s believed any future funding would be contingent on the star players remaining and speculation continues to swirl around Jon Rahm who could be owed as much as $100m of his record contract.

Asked ahead of the BMW Championship about the potential return of the likes of Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, as well as other high-profile LIV players back to the PGA Tour and the potential value they could add, Masters champ McIlroy was blunt.

“I mean, I would argue, have they brought value to LIV? You know?” McIlroy said. 

“I think the PGA Tour’s in a really good spot.”

"I'd argue, have they brought value to LIV?"

Rory McIlroy comments on LIV players' uncertain future in-context of where they started and where they now stand pic.twitter.com/dztWJa4eDW

— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) August 19, 2026

Brooks Koepka paid a $5m fee  after quitting LIV to rejoin the PGA Tour while Patrick Reed is making his way back via the DP World Tour having also abandoned LIV.

With discussions ongoing about any potential path back for other LIV players, McIlroy said his view remained unchanged, and that it shouldn’t be easy.  

“I feel like I’ve kept my position consistent that LIV has never been a good thing for the game,” he said on Wednesday.

“I’m not part of these discussions, but I’m pretty sure they’re not going to be welcomed back straight away.

“If they were offered this returning member program back in February, the one that Brooks took, then, yeah, maybe. But that has sort of come and gone … if they do decide to come back, isn’t going to be as good as the one that Brooks got.

“So, yeah, I would say it’s going to be a tough, tough road back.”

McIlroy went even further in his criticism players who left the PGA Tour to join LIV,  including Phil Mickelson, and their reasons for doing so.

“Yeah, were there some things at the start of LIV that the PGA Tour could have done better? Sure,” he said.

“But I think that, you know, the guys that went, or you look, you think back to the start with, like, say, Phil was unhappy with some stuff or whatever it was. Like, surely that just warranted a conversation instead of blowing the entire professional game up and doing something else.”

In Indianapolis, LIV boss O’Neil continued to project a positive, optimistic outlook on what the future could look like, adamant an equity model for players, who would become owners of their respective teams, not just players, was  the way forward.

LIV Golf CEO, Scott O'Neil. (Photo by Jordan Bank/Getty Images)

But he conceded bankruptcy, to alleviate the growing debt problem, was something which couldn’t be ruled out and said LIV was working with all debtors to resolve issues.

“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.

O’Neil conceded there was a timeline on getting a commitment from players like Rahm to ensure LIV’s future,  but wouldn’t say when that is.

He said he had “100 per cent confidence” that the new version of LIV, which could be as few as 10 events in 2027 with reduced purses, would maintain their current rate of world ranking points.

There was no clear information about the status of players, or any more information on the level of funding LIV could receive from the lead investor.

But O’Neil wouldn’t shy away from his optimism, regardless of the fires happening all around him.

This has been an extremely challenging several months for all of us. I speak on behalf of my colleagues here. We didn't sign up for this. We didn't ask for this. But yet they're here. Look at them. Look around the room. I have a lot of time for people who stay in and get it done and make it happen.

“My confidence level is high because the facts are good. So when the facts are good, it usually leads to a good outcome,” he said.

“For me, the facts are, can you have a lead investor, will limited partners come behind them, will players play in this league, do we have support from the stewards of this game, do we have broadcast partners that want this content, are our sponsors running for the hills, or are they double clicking, and they're double clicking.

“The facts are good. Our pattern of performance over the last two seasons, and that's all I can speak to, has been really good, in the face of all this.

“We have work to do. We have things we have to accomplish. There are hurdles we have to jump over. It's a very complex transaction we'll have to deliver.

“But man, I wouldn't bet against us.”