David Rumsey✓

Evidence! Still can't believe this happened. Thanks for an amazing foursome @brian_giuffra @backoftherange @jack_milko

I'll be out of the office for the rest of the day: I have a tee time. I was lucky enough to be one of the 28 winners of the Masters media lottery. Here goes nothing!

LIV Golf creditors face an uphill battle with over $100 million of unsecured claims but currently just $2 million to split between them. The creditors committee will fight for more, but bankruptcy experts tell @FOS "the outlook is likely quite bleak."

Tomorrow is an all-time multiview day for college football, and ABC and ESPN have 5 of the 7 Top 25 matchups. ESPN exec Kurt Dargis gave @FOS the BTS on BYU-Utah getting the ABC nod over Texas-Missouri, why Alabama-LSU isn't in primetime, and more ⬇️

Any ⛳️ news to talk about today? 🎙️

After 5 years and more than $5B spent, LIV Golf is shutting down. The $300M rescue deal is gone. golf reporter @_DavidRumsey joins ‘@FOS Today’ to break down what’s next for its players. Listen!

Callaway president and CEO Chip Brewer: “Needless to say that that whole incident was a serious one for us. It was a tough two weeks for our team and our brand. Fortunately, we didn’t see a material financial impact. There were really no discernible changes in sales trends.”

Callaway did not suffer a notable sales hit after backlash to its controversial co-branded driver ad with Good Good Golf, the company said on its Q3 earnings call. But the brand says its public image did take a notable hit: “It was a tough two weeks for our team and our brand.”

Last night on the new @eamonlynch Has Questions show on @GolfChannel, Jay Monahan said when he signed his current 5-year contract as PGA Tour commissioner, he was always planning to retire at the end of 2026.

Good sources on the @PatMcAfeeShow 👍🏻⛳

Callaway said it experienced no material sales hit during its Q3 from the Good Good driver ad controversy, but admitted it's consumer rating was noticeably damaged. Details @FOS ⬇️

Callaway president and CEO Chip Brewer said LIV Golf's collapse will be "really good for the game to have the best players playing together." The company is a longtime partner of Jon Rahm and sponsored his Legion XIII LIV team. Full comments from today's Q3 earnings call ⬇️ “We’ve obviously been watching with great interest how the LIV business played out. We've seen the same news you have. We've had a lot of different conversations, both with them and with the various tours and the players that are impacted. We think it's going to be really good for the game to have the best players playing together. Having those players not play together was suboptimal. And then we've got some really good players on LIV—or were on LIV, I guess—Jon Rahm being the foremost of those. And so, it's still undetermined where they're going to play next year, it won’t be LIV. Where they will play is to be determined. But if they are more visible in the new—wherever they end up—and I think it's highly likely they will be, we think that also could be good for us. "So, interesting developments and again, getting the best players in the game all together, creating even more interest and energy around the game from that perspective, were optimistic on that.”

Former PGA Tour policy board player director Peter Malnati said LIV shuttering means pro golf can "get back to a place now where our business models are going to be based on sound economics" and that Jay Monahan "played the cards he was dealt incredibly well."

RT @FOS: LIV Golf is officially shutting down. This comes after their $300M rescue deal with BC Partners Credit fell through. @_DavidRumsey has the details ⬇️

Best character in LIV's bankruptcy case? Judge Michael Kaplan. "It was thought best to take this opportunity to get a status report on where this Chapter 11 case is going," he said today. "I would be interested in hearing something that I haven't read on ESPN or Yahoo Sports."

The full 6-plus minute, 1,000-plus word statement from LIV Golf's lawyer, Matthew J. Williams of Gibson & Dunn, at today's bankruptcy hearing on the league winding down operations ⬇️ “The real purpose of this hearing is the status conference. So, why don't I just get right to it? As you said, there's been a lot in the press about this already. But, Your Honor, as we noted in the first day hearing, the DIP financing here was structured to provide a path to pursue what we call LIV 2.0. We had tight milestones, but if that path was not realized, it also allowed the debtors to quickly toggle to a value-maximizing wind down. "At the last hearing, my colleague, Mr. Fitzgerald, told the court that we expected to, and indeed needed to—not just for the milestones but just from a business perspective—we needed to have an answer by the end of October as to whether or not we'd be pursuing LIV 2.0 or whether we'd be going the wind down route. And that was going to be based on, among other things, the level of financial and player support that we were able to garner for a LIV 2.0 league. “The debtors now have that answer for the court. Unfortunately, it's not the one we had hoped for, but it is the one that we think protects the value of these estates—notwithstanding what we think are really extraordinary efforts of everyone involved here, and notwithstanding the patience of the PIF in moving key milestones as we tried to reach a global consensus. The debtors were ultimately unable to bring the key parties to a fully consensual arrangement that would have supported a financially viable LIV 2.0 league. "So, as a result, the debtors are not currently proceeding with the LIV 2.0 plan. Instead, the debtors are toggling to a value-maximizing wind down of their business, which is the fallback path the DIP in their related case milestones contemplated from the outset. “As I said earlier Your Honor, this is not for lack of a good-faith effort over the past several weeks. The debtors, BC Partners, the PIF, the players, the creditors committee—we all negotiated intensely and in good faith. The parties worked through multiple iterations of the financing for a reorganized league. "We looked at outsized DIP documents necessary to support the process and the terms on which the players could and would participate.
And every constituency made meaningful efforts to find common ground, but ultimately, despite everyone's best efforts, we just couldn't get to the level of combined financial and player support necessary for a viable LIV 2.0 within the required timeline. "The strategic initiative committee weighed the current level of player support, financing available to fund a reorganized league, and the costs and risk of further delay, as well as the recoveries that may be available to unsecured creditors, and on the current facts, it concluded that a wind down is the most likely way to maximize value for creditors at this time. This was not an easy conclusion for anyone who believed in what LIV Golf built, but it is the right one for these estates and the circumstances. “Obviously, if the facts or the circumstances change, the strategic initiative committee can and will revisit this decision consistent with its fiduciary duties. But sitting here today, and notwithstanding the substantial progress and the concessions made by all the parties, we believe the wind down path is the best path to maximize value for stakeholders. "As far as next steps, Your Honor, the debtors intend to file a Chapter 11 plan and disclosure statement, implementing the wind down by Monday, November 9th. The DIP milestone for filing that plan had been November 2nd, but because the decision to toggle and a wind down was really just made last night into this morning, we asked the PIF, and the PIF agreed, to give us a few extra days to get that wind down plan on file on November 9th. But we're not asking for the remaining DIP milestones to be changed. We think we can actually hit those dates. We know we have a hearing on a disclosure statement scheduled for November 24th. We do anticipate seeking a motion to shorten notice on approval of that disclosure statement and have that heard on the 24th, but Your Honor will rule on that in due course. "So, with that, Your Honor, like I said at the outset, this isn't the outcome the debtors hoped to announce today. In a few short years, LIV Golf built a global league that brought professional golf to new fans and to new markets. They grew the game and they expanded opportunities and choices for players, and everyone involved can take pride in that. "And with that in mind, I just wanted to thank the many people who worked so hard on LIV 2.0, in particular the debtor’ management team, and its employees, who kept this league running through a very difficult period, completed the season under less than ideal circumstances, and fulfilled the league's competitive commitments. "Obviously, the players, some of the best players in the world, who have been central to LIV Golf from its first event through these cases, and who engaged seriously and in good faith with us on a difficult decision about their careers, we really do appreciate their support. "Obviously, the PIF for its continued collaboration and support in funding these cases, moving these milestones to allow us to get to where we are, and now push forward with a wind down path, as well as the BC Partners, who really stepped up here and really tried to get to something that worked. We ultimately just couldn't get there. As well as the committee—the committee has been constructive throughout this process, and we look forward to continuing the engagement with the UCC on a go forward basis as we go forward with the wind down plan. "And of course, the court and chambers, who've been so accommodating to us over the past couple of months. So, that's really the update, Your Honor. These cases are not over. The debtors have the funding to maximize value for creditors, and our job now is to deliver on that via an orderly wind down plan effectuated through Chapter 11. And barring any change in circumstances, that's what we currently intend to do. So that's my update.”

Can't forget about the concerts!

Here is LIV Golf's official press release on shutting down. "Throughout the wind-down process, the company will remain open to, and continue to consider, any value-maximizing alternatives with third parties that may arise. "

Gotta love those @FOS app alerts ⛳

Breaking story @FOS on LIV Golf shutting down. The league and BC Partners have now confirmed the move first announced at this morning's bankruptcy hearing. Our story will be updated with the latest developments.

LIV Golf is headed for a wind-down. "The debtors are not currently proceeding with the LIV 2.0 plan," Gibson Dunn partner Matthew Williams said on this morning's bankruptcy hearing. "Instead, the debtors are toggling to a value-maximizing wind-down in their business.

Statement form a BC Partners spokesperson ⬇️ “BC Partners Credit supported a transaction that aligned the interests of players and investors, offering a credible path toward building a sustainable future for LIV Golf. While there was great support for the league, we are disappointed that mutually acceptable terms could not be reached among the various stakeholders. We commend LIV Golf’s management for their tireless efforts and thank the players who supported the future of LIV and engaged constructively throughout. We wish them every success as they continue their careers.”

The 13-min hearing is over. LIV's creditors committee will meet on Nov. 20, and another hearing in the bankruptcy case is scheduled for Nov. 24.

Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan: "I do appreciate the candor and professionalism, and overall, the energies and effort that went into trying to make LIV 2.0 work as a viable path for this chapter 11 case."