Dustin Johnson Leads LIV Golf Players in $100 Million Severance Fight Against PIF

Dustin Johnson is spearheading a coalition of more than ten LIV Golf players demanding over $100 million in severance payments from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF). The group, which includes major champions Bubba Watson and Thomas Detry, is seeking compensation for unpaid contracts following the league's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in September.[1][2][3]

The players are refusing to move forward with the circuit's planned restructuring until their financial claims are addressed. The standoff arrives just days before a Sunday deadline for players to commit to LIV 2.0, a proposed new iteration of the league backed by prospective lead investor BC Partners.[2][3]

The players have indicated they will not sign new agreements or release potential claims against the PIF until the financial wind-down of the original circuit is resolved. BC Partners has proposed injecting up to $300 million to keep the league operational for a 2027 season.[2][3]

David Cornwell, the lawyer representing the player coalition, stated that the golfers made significant career decisions based on repeated financial promises from the Saudi wealth fund. "Given their reliance on these promises, our group seeks a sensible severance payment as part of the wind-up of LIV," Cornwell said.[2][3]

The PIF, which invested roughly $5 billion into the breakaway circuit before halting its funding in April 2026, reportedly views itself solely as an equity investor rather than a guarantor of the league's contractual obligations. According to sources familiar with the negotiations, the sovereign wealth fund initially offered players a settlement of just two cents for every dollar owed.[2][3]

Adding to the players' frustration are recent disclosures from the bankruptcy proceedings in New Jersey. Court documents revealed that LIV Golf paid out $15.6 million in retention bonuses to league executives in the weeks immediately preceding the Chapter 11 filing.[2][3]

That total included a reported $6.375 million payment to chief executive Scott O'Neil, while players were left as unsecured creditors. The league currently lists liabilities between $500 million and $1 billion, with players accounting for seven of its ten largest unsecured creditors and 14 of the top 30.[2][3]

Other prominent golfers, including Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton, and Ian Poulter, have already announced their departures from the league entirely. This exodus further depletes the roster ahead of the proposed 2027 relaunch, leaving the bankruptcy court to untangle the competing claims.[2][3]

If the player coalition led by Johnson refuses to join the restructuring, the league's ability to field a competitive, star-driven roster for its targeted ten-event season remains in severe jeopardy. Cornwell emphasized that the broader sports business community is watching the PIF's actions closely.[2][3]

"The PIF was an honorable business partner until what we regard as its abandonment of LIV golfers," Cornwell said. He suggested that the fund's treatment of the golfers could signal how it will manage its other professional sports ventures moving forward.[3]