Sources: BC Partners pulls out of LIV Golf financing deal - ESPN

BC Partners is pulling out of its deal to invest $300 million into the LIV Golf League, and barring a last-minute buyer, the breakaway circuit is likely headed toward a liquidation of its assets, sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

BC Partners had planned to replace Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund as LIV Golf's primary financier, but with not enough of the league's top golfers committed to return in 2027, the London-based international investment firm has opted to pull out, the sources said.

A source added that LIV Golf met a critical mass of players who had pledged to compete in the league next season — about 30 were committed and another 10 still were considering it — but BC Partners pulled the plug when negotiations with those golfers dragged.

Publicly, only a handful of golfers have said they intend to participate in LIV 2.0, but the short list did not include any of the league's marquee names. Meanwhile, top stars like Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Tyrrell Hatton and Ian Poulter, among others, said they weren't coming back and will play on the DP World Tour next season instead.

A LIV Golf League spokesperson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from ESPN.

A hearing is scheduled for Thursday with U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michael B. Kaplan, in which additional details might emerge.

The PIF announced in April that it wouldn't finance LIV Golf beyond this season after investing more than $5 billion into the circuit that lured away stars like Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and others from the PGA Tour beginning in 2022 with guaranteed contracts of more than $100 million and events with $30 million purses.

In August, at the league's final event of the season in Indianapolis, LIV Golf CEO Scott