LIV bankruptcy protection: What next for the players on PGA and DP World Tour?

The DP World Tour has said it has had a "high volume" of interest from LIV Golf players and is exploring ways to accommodate those who leave the breakaway league.

It comes as LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy protection in the US on Tuesday , as it attempts to restructure for a "new era" next year.

LIV owes at least $45m (£33m) to 14 current and former players.

Its golfers, including star names like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, can now opt to leave, rather than being obliged to see out their contracts in LIV 2.0 which is aiming to launch next year.

But, given all the acrimony since LIV's launch in 2021 and subsequent outlay of $5bn (£3.7bn) split the sport, it may not be easy to return to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

A spokesperson for the DP World Tour said: "Given the high volume of inbound interest and enquiries we have received in recent weeks, we are exploring the terms on which we are willing to accommodate players, provided they are free from third-party contractual restrictions and are willing to abide by our membership regulations.

"Our tournament committee has approved the process we intend to follow and we expect further enquiries in the days ahead."

Court documents show LIV estimates its assets at $100m-$500m (£74m-£370m) and its liabilities at between $500m and $1bn (£370m-£739m).

Plans are for LIV 2.0 to be "built around a sustainable business model".

It is unclear at present how many of LIV's existing players may decide to stay.

LIV files for bankruptcy protection with over $45m owed to players

'Time will tell' - Rahm on LIV Golf future

Strained smiles and uncertainty - the strange end of LIV Golf 1.0

Playing on both the traditional tours and LIV has proved complicated.

There are now believed to be around 15 players who have exemptions to compete in in the DP World Tour.

Nine players, including Rahm, agreed conditional releases this year which allowed them to feature on both tours without disciplinary action.

The PGA said this was one of the "largest financial repercussions in professional sports history" under its returning member programme for top players.

Conversely, Patrick Reed did not meet the programme's criteria when he quit LIV.

He has therefore had to earn his place back on next year's PGA Tour through the DP World Tour's Race to Dubai top 10.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said last month there were "no current plans" to run the returning member programme again, which indicated Reed's path back will be the most likely way forward for other golfers.

BBC Sport has been told players who have exempt status will be able to apply to the DP World Tour, but the tour would need to consider what any new LIV looks like before a final decision.

For those without exempt status rejoining the DP World Tour, it is understood they could not be contracted to LIV.

If LIV can secure the funding to continue with what they are calling LIV 2.0, the major scaling back will be in terms of prize funds.

Their ambition is for tournaments worth around £7m, which puts them well below leading events on the PGA Tour but above most competitions on Europe's DP World Tour.

LIV bosses are looking to expand events from 57 to 75 players, have Monday qualifying events and introduce halfway cuts while retaining a team aspect.

Whether this arrangement is enough to attract the bigger names is open to question.

Significantly, Rahm said this week he was prepared to fulfil his contract with LIV 1.0, with no mention of any commitment to the intended new iteration.

The two-time major winner is expected to be among a number of players who will depart with the intention of finding a way back on to the PGA Tour.

One of LIV's biggest challenges will be to find a playing roster of sufficient quality to attract the required investment to make LIV 2.0 viable.

Is there a clear path back to main tours for LIV players?

The short answer is no and a number of LIV players are potentially facing career limbo.

LIV golfers are automatically banned for a year by the PGA Tour. It took the returning player programme, a special arrangement offered to a select few, to make it possible for Koepka to go back to the US circuit earlier this year.

Rahm, DeChambeau and Cameron Smith rejected that deal to stay on at LIV.

The PGA Tour has shown no enthusiasm for reinstating that arrangement but will, no doubt, be monitoring developments over coming weeks.

The DP World Tour offers a pathway because the leading 10 players on the European circuit currently gain access to PGA Tour membership.

This is the route being taken by Reed, who left LIV ahead of its 2026 season. So in the short term, it could be a boon for the European-based circuit to have the likes of Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton competing regularly next year.

Potential complications lie in the details of how the PGA Tour will structure its two-tier format from 2028. How many leading DP World Tour players from the 2027 season will be eligible for the upper-tier Championship series of tournaments?

The European tour also has to decide how to treat LIV players next season. In 2026, it struck a deal which allowed certain players, including Rahm and Hatton, to play LIV events without sanction.

That deal is thought unlikely to be offered next year.

Have traditional tours won battle for golf?

Yes, because they have withstood the loss of huge names to a breakaway tour that has been financed to the tune of $5bn and that tour has now filed for bankruptcy protection.

For five years, the PGA Tour has been functioning without some of the biggest stars in the game. And to ensure not losing more talent, it has needed to bolster prize funds and restructure its future path by creating a for-profit business model.

It is entitled to be bullish though, especially with $1.5bn investment from the Strategic Sports Group.

But no-one knows how sustainable it will be to stage a full season of $20m tournaments. Since LIV arrived, the price of staging top-level tournaments has grown massively, with most of that money flowing into players' pockets.

At the moment, the DP World Tour looks to have emerged stronger by offering a path back to the golf establishment for those golfers who do not want to hang around for LIV 2.0.