LIV Golf to know its future by end of month, attorney says - ESPN

An attorney representing the LIV Golf League told a federal bankruptcy court judge on Wednesday that the embattled tour should know by the end of the month whether it will be ceasing operations or moving forward with LIV 2.0.

Attorney Robert Fitzgerald also told U.S. Bankruptcy Court of New Jersey Judge Michael B. Kaplan that the DP World Tour's recent decision to ban golfers from competing in both circuits next season is a «clear attempt to interfere» with LIV Golf's restructuring and raises anti-competitive concerns.

On Monday, DP World Tour CEO Guy Kinnings told BBC Sport that his circuit, unlike in the previous few seasons, won't give conditional status to golfers who join LIV Golf 2.0 in 2027.

Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton were members of both tours in the past, which allowed them to continue to compete for the European team in the Ryder Cup. Golfers must apply for DP World Tour membership by Nov. 16.

«We're continuing to monitor this situation very closely, and we're quite concerned by it, frankly,» Fitzgerald said. «We're reserving all rights and remedies and respect to these statements that are made. Frankly, the timing in particular strikes us as a clear attempt to interfere with our process, with our players, and potentially our reorganization writ large.»

Kaplan acknowledged that he'd read and heard Kinnings' comments and said they «do raise concerns.»

«It also raises a lot of the same anti-competitive concerns that LIV has expressed previously regarding the way competing leagues have sought to box out and punish market participants — namely these players — from participating in LIV and really only LIV,» Fitzgerald said.

«Player freedom is the reason LIV Golf was created, and it's the foundation of LIV Golf 2.0,