BEDMINSTER, N.J. — As LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil walked the final few holes with the last group on a sweltering Sunday at Trump Bedminster, he had an inside-the-ropes special guest at his side: Ted Goldthorpe, the head of BC Partners Credit, which manages more than $10 billion globally across more than 300 investments. One of the latest companies Goldthorpe’s team reportedly has been kicking the tires on: yep, LIV Golf, which on Wednesday announced it had come to terms with an unnamed investor that will “carry and fund” the beleaguered league into 2027 and beyond.
LIV has not officially acknowledged BC Partners as its would-be funder, or lender. That news came to light via Bloomberg and the Financial Times, the latter of which reported that the deal will be consummated only if BC Partners and other possible investors receive assurances that enough of LIV’s A-listers will hang around beyond this season. Adding intrigue to the dealmaking is the fact that BC Partners is a lender to GSE Worldwide, the sports and entertainment marketing agency that represents LIV’s biggest star, Bryson DeChambeau, along with Joaquin Niemann, the 27-year-old Chilean who won his ninth LIV title here Sunday, with a three-shot win over Harold Varner. GSE said in a statement earlier this week that it had no involvement with BC Partners’ “potential financing transaction involving LIV Golf,” nor, the agency said, was it aware of any discussions happening between the two parties.
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When I asked DeChambeau in a Sunday-evening press conference (his Crushers won the team competition) whether he had any advance notice of the reported BC deal, he said, “I don’t know the mechanics of the conversations between the investor and GSE. What I can tell you is that the investor, from the conversations I’ve had, has a new and fresh vision on this product. It won’t be changing too much, but it’ll be changing in the right ways.
“He sees the vision. He wants to pursue it even more than what we’ve previously done, and he’s excited, from what I can tell. I think, again, if we’re able to get the players all aligned, which I feel like it’ll happen in some capacity, I think it’ll happen, this is going to be a product that will be a force for good in the game, in the ecosystem.”
Still unclear, though, is whether BC Partners and Goldthorpe will, in fact, finalize the deal and help see that vision through.
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GOLDTHORPE ISN’T NEW to decision making in the sports world, and not just because his firm has a stake in Riddell, the NFL’s leading helmet supplier. Goldthorpe sits on the advisory board for the Brampton Honey Badgers, a Toronto-area team that plays in the Canadian Elite Basketball league, and also holds board seats with both the Canadian Olympic Foundation and Lacrosse Canada. The Pine Valley shirt he was sporting Sunday also suggests he knows his way around a grill room.
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The group Goldthorpe followed at Bedminster — Niemann, Harold Varner and Lee Westwood — was a microcosm of what the league currently offers, in terms of its stable of contracted players: a young star with reach into international markets (Niemann); a mid-career player with nearly $10 million in PGA Tour earnings but, should he need it or want it, no clear path back to the Tour (Varner); and a past-his-prime former world No. 1 (Westwood).
As Goldthorpe paced the property with O’Neil, he also got a taste for the LIV tournament experience: pulsating music; corporate hospitality that is more night club than country club; and, on this Sunday, an appearance by the President of the United States. President Trump addressed the players in player dining before the final round Sunday, lavishing praise on Gary Player, who also was in the room. Later in the day, as Niemann’s group was readying to play their approaches into the 18th green, the unmistakable sound of helicopters interrupted play — and not just any helicopters, the president’s, one of which buzzed up the left side of the hole before landing behind the corporate suite behind the 18th green. The players stared up at the choppers. So, too, did Goldthorpe, who pulled out his phone to document the moment.
After Niemann put the finishing touches on his round and champagne had covered the podium, Goldthorpe described his day as “great” but otherwise declined an interview request. In fairness, he was busy — pressing flesh with the newly minted champion, saying hello to DeChambeau and otherwise keeping up with O’Neil as he diligently worked his way through post-tournament duties. After DeChambeau’s victorious Crushers chatted with the president for several minutes by the clubhouse (DeChambeau, who finished in 38th place at seven over, told Trump how hard his golf course is), Goldthorpe joined a procession of players, managers, media and Trump’s son, Eric, and his family as it ascended a hillside near the 18th green, the top of which served as the setting for the trophy ceremony.
As that revelry was underway, the elder Trump was on his way. As his helicopter buzzed over the podium, Eric and DeChambeau looked up. Eric waved; DeChambeau flashed a thumbs-up.
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THE SOMEWHAT CHAOTIC SCENE was a fitting bookend to a somewhat chaotic week. On Tuesday, LIV players met for 90 minutes in a closed-door session at the club, to discuss the news most of them had just learned: their league seemed to have a lifeline, or at least the beginning of one. As they filed out of the session, though, most of the players declined to engage with a small pool of reporters who were awaiting them. The few who did said DeChambeau led the session and that the vibes generally were “positive,” but few other details surfaced, including whether LIV’s season-capping team championship, scheduled for Michigan next month, will be played. (The build-out for the tournament, at The Cardinal at Saint John’s, has not begun, and the event has been pulled from Fox Sports’ broadcast schedule.)
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On Wednesday morning, O’Neil addressed the media in a hastily arranged press conference. In his opening remarks, he said that LIV had signed a term sheet with a “lead investor” but said little else before taking questions from reporters who, with so little intel, seemed unsure what to even ask.
One of the questions that O’Neil fielded: Was LIV’s former backer, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, aware of the potential deal? “The PIF has been a tremendous steward of this business, and I would just point you to the announcement they made,” O’Neil said, referring to the statement the PIF issued in April that said in part, “The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy.” O’Neil continued, “I don’t speak for them, and they don’t speak to you through me for sure.”
Understandably, then, eyebrows were cocked when the PIF’s governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, made an appearance at Trump Bedminster this weekend, representing what is thought to be the first time he’s attended a LIV event since the season opener in Riyadh. DeChambeau said he and his fellow players learned Saturday night that Al-Rumayyan would be on property. When I asked DeChambeau if he knew why Al-Rumayyan was in New Jersey, he said, “I think he needed to have some conversations with the president. That was a whole ‘nother thing. I’m not going to get involved with that.
“But it was great to see him out here. I think he’s done wonders for us and the global game of golf. How it moves forward, I think there’s a great place for the PIF and where they want to be moving forward. Where that is, I’m not exactly sure. I have no idea. But I know that he’s supported golf for a long, long time, and as this transitions over hopefully into the new investor’s hands and into the players’ hands, and that’s what it’s going to be, in the players’ hands, we really have an opportunity to align a lot of the global incentives to be a force for good for the game.”
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FROM HIS POST-ROUND INTERACTIONS with players and others in the LIV orbit, Goldthorpe seemed to be familiar with some and meeting others for the first time. In his winner’s press conference, Niemann said he was unsure whether Goldthorpe had addressed any of the players in any formal capacity at Bedminster.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I was pretty focused on doing my thing. Probably a few things that I might know after a couple hours. But no, all my focus was on trying to get the ball in the hole, and that’s it.”
No one did that better than Niemann this week. In two more weeks, LIV rolls onto Indianapolis for its final regular-season event of 2026, then it’s on to Michigan. Or not. Most likely, it seems, not. And then — well, then things get really interesting. DeChambeau said Sunday evening that he and his fellow LIV players “want to bring value to anywhere and everywhere for the game of golf.” But first they must attend to a more urgent matter: convincing investors to see value in them.
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