LIV Golf will officially announce to staff and players that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, the primary financial backer of the renegade golf tour, has officially pulled its funding at the conclusion of the 2026 season.
The official announcement, which the Wall Street Journal is reporting will take place on Thursday, should formally clear the way for LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neill to look for other funding.
The Saudi-backed men’s golf league, which intended to compete with the PGA Tour, has reportedly lost more than $5 billion since its debut in 2022 and failed to achieve a significant television audience, especially in the U.S., where it aired on the CW Network before signing a deal with Fox, although ratings have continued to be abysmal.
Legion XIII's Jon Rahm in action on April 19 during the fourth round of LIV Golf Mexico at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City.
Rumors that PIF would pull its financial backing have been circulating for weeks and O'Neill confirmed as much in an interview on April 17 that the league is only funded through the rest of the season, and then he’ll “work like crazy” to keep it going. In an interview that aired during the LIV Mexico tournament, O'Neill declared, “LIV Golf is in the best shape it’s ever been in its history, period, end of sentence,” while at the same time stating that future funding was to be determined.
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“The reality is you’re funded through the season and then you work like crazy to create a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said. “But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.”
The news comes just weeks after the PIF’s governor and primary LIV backer, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, shared a new five-year strategic plan that reprioritized the kingdom’s domestic spending and reduced its international investments.
LIV Golf — the Roman numeral for 54, and number of holes originally played at LIV events — kicked off its first event in June 2022, with no cuts and shotgun starts, and a team golf element that never found an audience.
With lavish guaranteed contracts, it succeeded in signing some of the world’s notable names, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.
It had some success with tournaments in Australia and, more recently, this season in South Africa. Anthony Kim’s comeback and eventual win created a bit of buzz earlier this year, but overall the league failed to gain traction.
LIV Golf filed a lawsuit against the PGA Tour, accusing it of being a monopoly. Saudi Arabia’s PIF and the Tour signed a Framework Agreement on June 6, 2023, throwing out the lawsuit, but a deal to work together was never consummated despite the influence of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Earlier this year, five-time major champion Brooks Koepka opted to return to the PGA Tour, and past Masters champion Patrick Reed also chose to leave LIV and focus on the DP World Tour with hopes of earning a promotion back to the PGA Tour next season.
LIV Golf is scheduled to play in Northern Virginia next week. It has eight events remaining this season, and its leadership is officially on the clock to find new backers with deep pockets.
McIlroy questions competitive desire of players in LIV Golf
NOT SO PERFECT GOLF
Jon Rahm knows as well as anyone how hard it is to win a major, much less a U.S. Open. It was only reviewing highlights of his win last year at Torrey Pines that he realized that great golf and perfect golf are not the same.
It helps to already have one major, so he said that eases a little of the pressure. He feels he can enjoy the U.S. Open a little more knowing he doesn't have to do anything special.
“It's easy to think you need to be playing perfect golf,” Rahm said. "And I remember watching my highlights of Sunday last year, and I thought I played one of the best rounds of my life. And I kept thinking, ‘I cannot believe how many fairway bunkers I hit that day, how many greens I missed, and how many putts I missed.’
“It's golf, and that's how it is,” he said. “You truly don’t have to play perfect, and that’s I think the best lesson I can take from that.”
BROOKLINE MEMORIES
Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk and Sergio Garcia are the only players at the U.S. Open who played in the 1999 Ryder Cup. Those aren't the only players making a return to The Country Club.
Four players who reached the quarterfinals of the 2013 U.S. Amateur also made it into the U.S. Open at Brookline. That starts with Matt Fitzpatrick, the winner. It also includes Masters champion Scottie Scheffler, Corey Conners of Canada and Brandon Matthews.
Scheffler had an amazing run. He needed 20 holes to beat Stewart Jolly in the first round, 20 holes to beat Brandon Hagy in the second round and he beat Matthias Schwab on the 18th hole to reach the quarterfinals. He lost to Brady Watt, 2 and 1.
“I remember being down in pretty much all my matches and coming back,” Scheffler said. “On the three that I won, I came back late on all of them. I think I made a big putt against maybe Brandon Hagy — may have been Brandon — on 17. I have good memories of this place.”
QUALIFYING BLUES
Collin Morikawa is a two-time major champion at age 25, the No. 7 player in the world who can expect to be exempt in the U.S. Open for years to come.
It wasn't always that easy.
“Yeah, well, I suck at qualifying. I really do," Morikawa said Tuesday.
He said he never made it to a U.S. Junior and he can think of only one U.S. Amateur appearance when he was exempt through his amateur ranking. As for the U.S. Open? He went through qualifying three times while at Cal and never came particularly close.
“I decided I hate California — no, I'm kidding,” the California native said.
He missed out by four shots at Lake Merced in San Francisco in 2016 and in 2018. In between, the U.S. Open sectional was in Newport Beach. He missed that by seven shots.
“I just never played well in those events and decided to go to the Ohio one three years ago,” he said. “Made that. The rest is history.”
He made it through Columbus — known as the PGA Tour qualifier because it has the strongest field and the most spots — without a shot to spare. That was in 2019, and he tied for 35th at Pebble Beach in his second tournament as a pro.
Four starts later, he was a PGA Tour winner. A year later, he was a major champion. Yes, the rest is history.
A CADDIE'S LIFE
Rory McIlroy is back to work with his old caddie for the U.S. Open.
Harry Diamond, a longtime friend and Irish amateur player, has been on McIlroy's bag the last five years but was home last week as his wife gave birth to their second child. McIlroy had a backup plan — former Irish rugby union player Niall O'Connor — when he won the RBC Canadian Open for his first win this year.
“Niall and I's run has come to an end at this point,” McIlroy said. “Pretty good record. Had a fourth in Dubai and a first in Canada. If I ever need someone to jump in for Harry, I've got a pretty good substitute there.”
STAT OF THE DAY
Of the six news conferences Tuesday, Scottie Scheffler was the only player who was not asked about the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series.
FINAL WORD
“If you want to be one of the best players in the world, this is the country where you need to play the majority of your golf.” — Rory McIlroy.
