Saudi Arabia’s decision to abandon their LIV Golf project will be formally confirmed on Thursday, according to sources at the breakaway league.
Daily Mail Sport understands an announcement is due to be made at around midday, which will also state the circuit’s intention to plough on in 2027 despite losing the overwhelming majority of its financial clout.
Whether the league have any remote prospect of survival remains to be seen after achieving such limited returns from $6billion of Saudi backing since its formation in 2022, but senior figures at LIV are bullish that fresh investors will be attracted to the table.
It is understood that captains in the league were briefed on Wednesday ahead of the announcement, following two weeks of frenzied speculation about the imminent threats to the future of LIV.
The details of Thursday’s update will include confirmation that Saudi Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rummayan will be stepping down as LIV chairman, with at least two new board members due to be named.
A formal announcement on LIV Golf’s future funding will be made today, with Saudi Arabia set to pull their financing of the rebel tour
Jon Rahm was among the leading names lured to LIV Golf, but now could face a battle to return to the PGA Tour
Captains of Liv Golf teams, including Dustin Johnson, were informed of plans on Tuesday
Although it is unlikely to be stated publicly at this stage, one of the survival measures believed to be under consideration is a possible reduction in the playing schedule from 14 tournaments. Such a cut might be essential in consideration of each event currently costing $30m in prize money alone.
LIV’s immediate future, and particularly the retention of Bryson DeChambeau, whose deal is up at the end of the current season, will be contingent on new money pouring in. Daily Mail Sport previously reported that they were looking to private equity to plug that immense shortfall left by the Saudis, with an internal conviction that it will be forthcoming.
Intriguingly, one senior LIV source believes lucrative new avenues will be opened via the removal of the Saudis from the equation owing to the Kingdom’s international reputation around human rights. Time will tell if that’s an excessively optimistic projection.
Indeed, LIV’s fight looks extremely challenging. Despite chief executive Scott O’Neil’s tub-thumping rhetoric in the wake of reports of LIV’s implosion this month, in which he said the league would be pushing on ‘uninterrupted and at full throttle’, an event scheduled for New Orleans in June has been postponed.
According to sources, that decision was taken as a measure to avoid peak summer heat and a clash with the World Cup, but many golf insiders interpreted the move as yet further evidence of scaling back mid-season.
There is an irony that LIV’s existential crisis has arrived at a point when a belated upturn to their fortunes was being seen in several areas – aside from a series of new sponsorship deals and enhanced broadcasting arrangement, sources told Daily Mail Sport earlier this month that revenues were up $100million through five events in 2026 and that 10 of their 13 teams will be in profit for the season, along with four of the tournaments.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, right, is set to stand down as LIV Golf chair
Those details will be vital to luring fresh investment to the table. But the greater concern will be the understanding that the circuit is losing around £75m a month and DeChambeau is believed to be pushing for as much as £400m to renew his deal.
At a time of war in the Middle East, footing the bill has been ruled unviable by the Saudis. O’Neil himself has been frank in admitting it might yet be five or 10 years before his league is profitable, so it is a tight corner in which LIV find themselves.
As for the players, there have already been private overtures to the traditional tours about making amends for old wounds.
The likes of Tyrrell Hatton would be free to return to the DP World Tour if he chose to break his LIV contract, much like Patrick Reed has already done, while many would be hoping for the kind of sweetheart deal that allowed Brooks Koepka to rejoin the PGA Tour earlier this year.
