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LIV's Reported Player Commitments Still Leave a Roster to Build

Brendon Elliott

Sun, October 25, 2026 at 11:01 PM UTC ·

8 min read

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LIV's proposed successor has reportedly found enough interested golfers to keep negotiations going. Anyone looking for a settled roster or a completed relaunch will have to wait.

The Financial Times reported Sunday that around 15 golfers had tentatively committed to LIV 2.0. Golfweek's account of that reporting said the interest had encouraged prospective investor BC Partners to pursue a deal in the coming days. The players in that reported group were not named.

For a league trying to assemble a future while restructuring, that is useful movement. It gives negotiations something more substantial than a pitch about what professional golf could look like. It also leaves an important qualification attached to the player count: tentative.

A golfer can be interested in the proposed competition while still needing answers about the terms. Counting that interest is fair. Presenting it as a finished field would give fans, potential partners and the players themselves a certainty the reporting does not support.

Sunday's development needs to be read alongside what BC Partners Credit has already put on the record. In an Oct. 5 announcement, the firm described an initial committed investment as the first part of a targeted $300 million in cumulative financing. It outlined a model in which players would hold equity in both the league and its teams.

The Oct. 5 announcement helps explain the offer now being put to players. Sunday's report suggests a group is considering it, though their identities and final commitments are still needed to judge the field.

The Master List · Updated Oct. 25, 2026

LIV 2.0: Who's In, Who's Out and Who's Still Deciding

Public commitments, reported decisions and qualified assessments. A commitment to participate remains conditional on the proposed league going ahead.

How to read this list:"Committed" means publicly identified as committed, not independent verification of a signed contract. The two "leaning" categories are assessments, not announced decisions.

01 · Strongest public confirmation

Publicly Committed

Richard BlandCameron TringaleBrendan SteeleBen Campbell

These four appear on Golf Channel's published commitment list. Their inclusion does not establish a completed 2027 roster.

Source: Golf Channel

02 · Reported commitment

Reported as Probable

Victor Perez

Golf Monthly reports that Perez is on board. He is separated from the four-player public list because the source describes his status as reported.

Source: Golf Monthly player tracker

03 · Assessment based on reported support

Unclear, but Leaning Yes

Bryson DeChambeau

Golf Monthly, citing ESPN, reports that he remains supportive and is working to help LIV 2.0 happen. That supports a lean toward staying; it does not establish a finalized playing agreement.

Source: Golf Monthly on ESPN's reporting

04 · Assessment with unresolved decisions

Most Likely a No

Sergio Garcia

His contract ended and his stated priorities point toward the DP World Tour and Ryder Cup. Reports differ on whether he is definitively out; his own reported comments left a LIV return possible.

Joaquin Niemann

A departure has been reported, but Golf Monthly also records his stated uncertainty and the absence of official confirmation. Leaning out remains an assessment.

Sources: GOLF.com on Garcia's comments · Golf Monthly player tracker

05 · Announced or reported exits

Not Coming Back

Announced departures

Jon RahmDavid PuigLouis OosthuizenIan PoulterBranden GraceLucas HerbertTyrrell HattonTom McKibbin

Reported departures

Adrian MeronkAbraham AncerCharles Howell IIIThomas Pieters

The second group is retained as reported rather than presented as independently verified player announcements.

Sources: Reuters / Field Level Media · Golf Monthly tracker · GOLF.com departure reporting

Unresolved: Other Names to Watch

No verified 2.0 playing decision was established for these names in the reviewed roster and status reports. They are not being assigned a probability merely because they have stayed silent.

Anirban Lahiri · Anthony Kim · Bjorn Hellgren · Bubba Watson · Byeong-hun An · Caleb Surratt · Cameron Smith · Carlos Ortiz · Charl Schwartzel · Danny Lee · Dean Burmester · Do-Yeob Mun · Dustin Johnson · Elvis Smylie · Graeme McDowell · Harold Varner III · Jason Kokrak · Josele Ballester · Laurie Canter · Lee Westwood · Luis Masaveu · Martin Kaymer · Marc Leishman · Matthew Wolff · Michael La Sasso · Miguel Tabuena · Minkyu Kim · Max Rottluff · Ollie Schniederjans · Paul Casey · Peter Uihlein · Phil Mickelson · Richard T. Lee · Sam Horsfield · Scott Vincent · Sebastian Munoz · Talor Gooch · Thomas Detry · Travis Smyth · Younghan Song · Yosuke Asaji

This group includes names from roster and status reports, including replacements and reserves. Inclusion does not establish eligibility or a place in a 2027 field. Release from an old contract, or pursuit of money owed, does not by itself establish a decision against LIV 2.0.

Sources: GolfMagic status tracker · Golf Monthly roster reference

The unnamed group:The Financial Times separately reported roughly 15 tentative commitments without identifying the players. That figure cannot be converted into a named roster or added to the public names as if there were no overlap.

Source: Financial Times, Oct. 25 . Status snapshot as of Oct. 25, 2026; subsequent decisions may change these categories.

Fifteen Names Would Still Leave a Roster to Build

Golfweek reported, citing the Financial Times, that BC Partners was seeking at least 30 to 40 players to start. A tentative group of about 15 would therefore represent meaningful recruiting progress while still leaving substantial work to reach that reported range.

A head count also cannot tell the whole story of a professional golf field. Fans follow particular golfers, and teams need identities they can sustain from one event to another. Until the names and commitments are settled, it is difficult to judge what this proposed competition would actually offer a viewer.

The deadline requires similar care. The agreement set Oct. 25 as the date for player commitments, but Golf Channel reported on Oct. 14 that BC Partners could extend or waive it. Sunday's reporting points toward additional negotiating time, rather than establishing that a final cutoff has already ended the effort.

More time could help get agreements finished, particularly for players still examining the ownership offer. Any extension should come with enough clarity for the golfers involved to know when a decision is actually required.

The more useful development for golf fans would be a group of identified players making firm commitments under terms they understand. That would allow a real discussion about the quality of the competition and the teams, instead of another argument over what a deadline might mean.

LIV 2.0 · Money and ownership

The Financing Has Several Stages

$300 million

Targeted cumulative financing in BC Partners Credit's Oct. 5 announcement.

For a player evaluating equity:Examine who makes decisions, how the business expects to earn revenue and what future funding could mean for ownership. These are evaluation questions, not a description of undisclosed contracts.

Source: BC Partners Credit announcement, Oct. 5

Source: Golf Channel court-hearing report, Oct. 14

Ownership Needs More Than an Appealing Pitch

Player equity is a central part of BC Partners Credit's proposed model. Its announcement described golfers sharing ownership of the league and teams, with a stake in the business they help build. For players evaluating the offer, the details of that ownership deserve as much attention as the number attached to the financing target.

Equity can have value, but its value depends on the business behind it. A stake in a league raises practical questions about decision-making, future funding and how revenue reaches the people who own it. Those are reasonable questions for a golfer considering a commitment that affects where and how often he competes.

Golfweek's account of the Financial Times report said players were seeking explanations of their governance rights and the potential risks and rewards. That is a more revealing detail than another broad statement of enthusiasm. It suggests the proposed ownership model is being examined at the level where a player would have to live with it.

There has been a legal step forward as well. Golf Channel reported that the bankruptcy judge approved the agreement between LIV and BC Partners on Oct. 14. Judge Michael B. Kaplan also distinguished that approval from confirmation of a final plan. An agreement moving through the process should be described accurately without assigning it effects the judge expressly withheld.

The reported player interest gives BC Partners a reason to continue. The next announcement worth examining closely will say who has agreed, what those golfers have agreed to and how the proposed competition will be financed. Until then, the golfers considering equity have every reason to keep asking what they would own.

PGA of America Golf Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer who serves as Athlon Sports Senior Golf Writer. Read his recent "The Starter" on RG.org, where he is their Lead Golf Writer. To stay updated on all of his latest work, sign up for his newsletter or visit his MuckRack Profile .

This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Golf section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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