LIV Golf hit with 'tax dodge' claim by Rory McIlroy's former agent

Rory McIlroy's former agent Chubby Chandler has slammed LIV Golf's plans to relaunch in 2027 under new financial backers as nothing more than a "tax dodge".

The breakaway tour is pushing ahead with plans for a revamped league in 2027, despite a mass exodus of players threatening its future.

London-based credit firm BC Partners Credit has committed to providing up to $300m in financing to help LIV emerge from bankruptcy protection and fund its proposed relaunch. The deal remains subject to court approval and player commitments.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), which poured more than $5bn into LIV, withdrew its backing in April. The league filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States in September.

LIV is now attempting to restructure under a new ownership model that would give players equity in the league and its teams. 

But several prominent names have signalled their intention to leave, including Jon Rahm, while the league continues to fight to secure enough players for 2027.

Chandler said: "Who are the people organising LIV 2.0? Because I think the whole game with PIF and BC Partners is a tax dodge.

"I think they're buying the debt, and then the debt goes against their tax.

"So I think there’s a big tax process, isn't there? It's what companies do all the time, we just don't know about it.

"But I think they're buying the debt for $300m."

He added: "The simple maths of it, if you think about the prize money for it, is 10 LIV events they're talking about?

"So if you think about the prize money and say they're doing $12m instead of $20m, that's $120m of that $300m gone already before they've signed a player or done anything.

"So the numbers never added up on that $300m at all. And if you think about PIF losing $5bn, what are you going to do with $300m?”

“It doesn't work. The numbers don't work. But if you buy $1bn worth of debt or whatever it is, that's the play I think there.

"Does LIV need more investment? Yes, but they're not going to get to a billion, never mind five billion dollars. It was naive to think that [Jon] Rahm would take equity in their new LIV 2.0 when there wasn't anything there to take equity in."

Chandler said LIV Golf was always a cash grab from the start, adding: "Whatever reason they gave about spreading the game, it was all to do with money, and some of them did unbelievably well. 

"I would think Phil Mickelson sorted out a few debts with his money. 

"You read about the stuff that's been going on with him, he probably had quite a lot of debts, and he's probably sorted them out in one go. 

"Golf wasn't ever a game where you could make $100m in a year. Even the best players weren't making that. 

"To be offered whatever they were offered, that was a once in a lifetime thing. A lot of them took it, and a lot of them benefited from it."

European Ryder Cup icon Ian Poulter is among those who have decided to walk away from LIV. 

Poulter's decision came as a somewhat of a surprise, but the Englishman insisted he wants to spend the next chapter of his career supporting his two sons as they pursue a career in the sport. 

He also wants to turn his attention to the senior tours.

Poulter's decision to join LIV likely cost him a Ryder Cup captaincy and, under current rules, he will not be eligible to lead the blue and gold. 

But Chandler believes Poulter's "gamble" to join LIV in the first place ultimately paid off.

"I think for people like Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter, signing with LIV was a positive, not a negative, because although they've got nowhere to play properly now, it doesn't matter because their careers are just about over," he said.

"They've banked whatever they've banked, and they've got a bit of golf to play, like the Legends Tour in Europe, and maybe they'll end up getting on the Champions Tour. 

"I think they'll still be banned for a year even when they try and do that, so by the time they do that they're getting too old to be that competitive. But the gamble that they took probably paid off."

Chandler was speaking to BetBrothers.