// BBC WORLD NEWS — MONDO
LIV files for bankruptcy protection with $45m owed to players
LIV Golf was founded in 2021, with its first season taking place the following year
LIV Golf has filed for bankruptcy protection with at least $45m (£33m) owed to players, who will now have the option to leave.
A Chapter 11 petition, which LIV says is to "preserve the company's business" as it attempts to restructure after Saudi Arabia withdrew its multibillion-dollar funding, was filed in the United States on Tuesday.
The breakaway league says it has found a new investor in BC Partners, following the decision in April by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) to pull its funding.
Documents in the petition outline money owed to LIV Golf's creditors with the 30 largest unsecured claims. Two-time major winner Jon Rahm tops that list with an unsecured claim of $7.5m (£5.5m).
Bryson DeChambeau ($5.7m - £4.2m), Dustin Johnson ($5.5m - £4.1m), Cameron Smith ($4.8m - £3.5m) and Tyrrell Hatton ($3.4m - £2.5m) are also among the top 30 creditors, as well as Brooks Koepka, who left to rejoin the PGA Tour in January but has an unsecured claim of $1.7m (£1.25m).
The total amount owed to the 14 current and former LIV players in the top 30 creditors is just over $45m (£33m).
The court documents show LIV estimates its assets at $100m-$500m (£74m-£370m) and its liabilities at between $500m and $1bn (£370m-£739m).
LIV Golf intends to commence its new majority player-owned league early next year and it is understood the Chapter 11 process allows it to start talking to players about their participation in LIV's future.
BBC Sport understands there is no obligation on players to sign on to LIV 2.0, regardless of whether they had previously signed multi-year contracts with LIV Golf.