LIV Golf’s Saudi backers are reportedly pulling out after pumping $5 billion into the tour
The 2026 season will continue “uninterrupted and at full throttle,” LIV’s CEO said.
A little under four years ago, LIV Golf officially stormed its way into the golfing world with its inaugural event at the Centurion Club in Hertfordshire, England, where Green Jacket winner Charl Schwartzel took home $4.75 million for winning the competition — more than Rory McIlroy pocketed for winning the Masters on Sunday and the biggest tournament prize pot in the sport’s history at the time.
Now, even as LIV golfers tee off at a tournament in Mexico City, the flashy PGA Tour rival could be on the brink of collapse, following reports that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is looking to cut spending on the competition. The fund has pumped more than $5 billion into the project since it was founded in 2021, per The Guardian.
LIV and let die
Earlier this week, prominent golf blogger Ryan French tweeted that a “bombshell announcement” on LIV’s future was “imminent,” while the Financial Times reported that an update had been expected as soon as Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Attempting to assuage staffers’ anxieties, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil sent out an internal memo telling workers that “our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.” Slightly less reassuring, however, was the tone that O’Neil took to end the email, signing off with, “It matters. You mattered. Now, let’s go win,” with his partial use of past tense fanning online chatter further.
The reports of LIV’s death have sparked a morbid interest in the controversial, ultra-moneyed golf organization, with Google searches hitting some of their highest points since the year of its first event. For the competition’s backers, the buzz might just be too little, too late.
Despite bumper signing bonuses, prize pots, and contracts that lured the likes of Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Jon Rahm, LIV just never made the online splash that the Saudi Kingdom’s financial managers were likely hoping for. Even on YouTube, where the tournaments can be livestreamed for free in many markets, the LIV Golf channel has racked up just 437,000 subscribers — arguably not a great return on $5 billion.
