Bland says LIV future hinges on player commitments amid restructuring

Richard Bland says LIV Golf's players still lack clarity about the competition's future, with their willingness to join a restructured league now a crucial unresolved question. Speaking to BBC South Today, the English golfer said funding alone would not guarantee that the proposed successor competition goes ahead.

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Bland said financial backing was in place, but participation would depend on which players committed once the existing league's problems were resolved. His comments, reported by BBC Sport on Wednesday, did not confirm that enough players had agreed to take part or that the new competition was certain to launch.

The 53-year-old also described a sharp reversal in the assurances given to players earlier this year. According to Bland, they were told at a meeting in Riyadh around late January that funding would run through 2032. He said that message came from Saudi Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

By April, the position had changed. Bland said players struggled to absorb the news and acknowledged the difficulty faced by staff and chief executive Scott O'Neil in finding a route forward. He joined LIV in 2022 and represented Martin Kaymer's Cleeks GC.

The uncertainty follows LIV's September 8 filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States. In its report on the filing, BBC Sport said the 14 current and former players listed among the 30 largest unsecured creditors were owed just over $45 million. Jon Rahm's listed claim was $7.5 million, the largest among those players. The BBC reported that the figures covered unpaid third-quarter amounts, rather than all money owed.

LIV identified BC Partners as its proposed new investor and outlined plans for a majority player-owned competition. The BBC reported at the time that players would not be obliged to join the successor league, even if they had signed multi-year agreements with the original operation. Existing debts would be dealt with through the court process.

The restructuring proposals included larger, 75-player fields, a cut and qualifying opportunities, alongside equity for players and the return of individual commercial rights. Those plans describe the intended shape of the next league; Bland's latest comments underline that player participation remains unresolved.