LIV Golf files for bankruptcy protection as it tries to survive in a smaller version

LIV Golf filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in New Jersey with more than $500 million US in debt, part of its goal to revive the league without Saudi funding.

The move was widely expected after the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia abruptly ended its financial support this year. The final event was last month in Indiana. Four vendors already have filed lawsuits because they have not been paid.

LIV said it has agreed to a restructuring plan with BC Partners as the primary source of its capital.

"This process gives us the structure and time to pursue a landmark transaction and begin the next chapter of LIV Golf," CEO Scott O'Neil said in a news release.

O'Neil has said "LIV Golf 2.0" would feature players as majority owners in a reduced schedule. In a letter to LIV Golf fans, O'Neil said the new look would expand the size of the field from 57 to 75 players and introduce a 54-hole cut for the first time. There also would be Monday qualifiers.

He said the team concept would be built around nationalities and that LIV would continue to tap some of its more successful markets in Australia, South Africa and Asia.

Still, the new version would be a shell of what LIV promised when it launched in June 2022 after paying nine-figure signing bonuses to lure away top names from the PGA Tour. The excessive spending topped more than $5 billion before PIF said in April it was pulling the plug.

Still to be determined is the future of the biggest stars still with LIV, most notably Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. Rahm is playing the Irish Open this week and told BBC Northern Ireland: "I still have a contract with LIV 1.0 that I'm more than willing to fulfill. Like I said, time will tell."

Rahm, DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson