The writing has been on the wall for weeks. Despite LIV Golf officials putting on a brave face, insisting it was “business as usual”, the moment it emerged that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would pull its funding at the end of the 2026 season, the league’s very existence has been under threat.
On Thursday, LIV Golf executives were expected to finally bite the bullet and inform its players that PIF would cease funding golf’s renegade league at year’s end.
In a press release, LIV Golf made no mention at all of PIF, only to say it was undergoing a restructuring of management to guide its “strategic evolution”.
Later, the PIF issued a statement announcing its decision to stop funding at the end of the current season.
"PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season. The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF's investment strategy," the investment body said in a statement.
Without PIF’s cash, LIV Golf appeared to have four options on the table: a total collapse, fire-sale restructuring, external investment or a merger with a rival tour.
The league went with a little of the second and all of the third options. The changes will focus on “securing long-term financial partners” to support its transition from a “foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model”.
An independent board led by Gene Davis and Jon Zinman – “seasoned experts with proven track records of navigating complex situations and unlocking value for global organisations” – will guide the league through its next phase.
Under its current structure, LIV Golf was always unlikely to be viable in the long term without PIF’s considerable financial backing. From its launch in 2021, LIV Golf functioned less like a traditional sports league and more like a state-backed disruption project to challenge the hegemony of the PGA Tour.
It offered players nine-figure signing bonuses. Many, including six-time major champion Phil Mickelson, as well as those at the peak of their careers – Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm – jumped at the chance. Prize purses in excess of $25 million were another incentive. PGA officials were worried; LIV appeared to be an existential threat.
Despite hosting events across the globe, from Saudi Arabia to South Africa to Mexico, with some degree of success, LIV Golf has never been able to capture a sizeable US audience, the lifeblood of the sport. This week LIV postponed its June event in New Orleans, meaning it will not have any tournaments in the US between May 10 until August 6, when it goes to Trump Bedminster in New Jersey.
The franchise/team concept never really took off, and yet LIV Golf said on Thursday its conviction in the model “has never been stronger”. The concept has drawn few external investors so far, affecting potential revenue streams. Global event staging costs also affect the bottom line.
Despite substantial investment, the LIV model only works if funding is effectively unlimited – which it was with PIF backing. TV sponsorship and ticket sales do not come close to covering its costs. The PIF has poured more than $5 billion into the league since 2021 and is on course to exceed $6bn by the end of 2026, according to several reports.
PGA Tour events continue to hog eyeballs by a wide margin. The 2026 Masters, won by Rory McIlroy, peaked at 20 million viewers on Sunday’s final round, numbers LIV can only dream of.
The league’s losses are reported to be between $500 million to $600m each year, though LIV Golf is on course to improve its revenue projection by $100m in 2026 after signing multiple brand partnership deals, according to a CNBC report.
But the overall financial outlook for LIV looks bleak even with PIF backing. LIV’s UK entity lost almost $500m in 2024. CEO Scott O’Neil told the Financial Times in February that the tour would not reach profitability for another five to 10 years.
On April 15, Saudi Arabia announced a new five-year investment strategy, saying it would switch to a major domestic focus. PIF chairman Yasir Al Rumayyan, who reportedly stepped down from his role as chairman of the LIV Golf board on Wednesday, said that the ongoing Iran war “would add more pressure to reposition” PIF’s priorities.
O'Neil desperately attempted to spin the narrative, saying that talk of the league's demise was way off the mark while admitting that structural changes were on the way.
But securing the finances to back nine-figure contracts and massive prize money is always going to be a tough sell. Without investors to replace PIF funding, it’s hard to see how the league will retain the services of superstar players such as DeChambeau, who is a free agent at the end of this year. Koepka and Patrick Reed had already jumped ship with the intention of returning to the PGA Tour.
The same cannot be said of Mickelson, who took several swipes at the PGA following his high-profile defection. When bridges are burned, they are hard to rebuild.
The PGA Tour may well feel vindicated, but this is not simply a victory lap for golf’s establishment. LIV Golf forced a reckoning – driving up prize money, accelerating innovation and challenging a decades-old status quo. Even if the league, in its current form, fades without PIF backing, its impact will endure.
The more likely outcome is not a clean collapse, but a reshaping: a leaner, less extravagant version of LIV. The era of disruption it sparked has already changed professional golf – and that will most likely be its lasting legacy.
