Saudi Arabia has announced it will pull the plug on funding for LIV Golf at the end of the 2026 season, plunging the breakaway league into an existential crisis.
Confirmation of the open secret was issued on Thursday afternoon, with the Saudi Public Investment Fund breaking their silence to state the league was ‘no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s strategy’.
Although it has been known for several weeks that the Saudis had decided to end their backing of the controversial circuit, which had cost the PIF an estimated $5billion in the past four years, the falling of the axe will be a huge blow to a number of the tour’s players, many of whom had been in denial about the expired interest of their paymasters.
LIV intends to fight on in search of fresh investment but covering the extortionate running costs of the league will prove brutally difficult and potentially impossible.
A PIF statement released to Daily Mail Sport read: ‘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.
Saudi Arabia’s involvement in LIV Golf appears to be over following Thursday’s announcement
Jon Rahm (left) and Dustin Johnson are among the golfers who joined LIV’s lucrative tour
‘This decision has been made in light of PIF’s investment priorities and current macro dynamics. The LIV Golf Board has created a committee of independent directors to evaluate strategic alternatives for its future beyond PIF’s funding horizon.
‘LIV Golf has substantially grown the game globally through its transformational and positive impact. It has forever changed the game of golf for the better.
‘PIF remains committed to deploying capital internationally in line with its investment strategy, including its substantial current and future investments in various sports as a priority sector.’
That statement arrived barely three hours after LIV issued one of their own and failed to make even a single reference to the Saudis, nor the PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who has served as the tour’s chairman since their inaugural event in 2022. Sources at LIV clarified that he too will leave his post.
Despite the crushing setback, LIV does believe it can somehow survive, with the ambitious hope spelled out in a vague release to flag up the appointment of two new board members.
In a midday statement notable mainly for what it chose not to disclose, LIV said they were pivoting focus to ‘securing long-term financial partners to support its transition from a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model’.
They added: ‘This strategic evolution, accelerated by the league’s record-breaking performance in 2026, includes the appointment of a newly established independent board led by Gene Davis and Jon Zinman, seasoned experts with proven track records of navigating complex situations and unlocking value for global organizations, to guide the league through its next phase.’
Those track records in ‘complex situations’ will be necessary for the continued existence of a league that is believed to be losing around £75million a month and has cost the Saudis a fortune for limited cut-through. They succeeded in landing a host of marquee stars including Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith, but achieved precious little visibility or credibility in the wider golfing world.
There was no mention of Yasir Al-Rumayyan (right), Governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, in Thursday’s statement – with him set to step away from LIV after this year
Bryson DeChambeau is believed to be pushing for as much as £400m to renew his LIV deal
Tyrrell Hatton would be free to return to the DP World Tour if he chose to break his LIV contract
Although it is unlikely to be stated publicly at this stage, one of the survival measures believed to be under consideration at the new version of LIV 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 DeChambeau, whose deal is up at the end of the current season, will be contingent on new money flooding 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, not to mention revisionist.
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 sources 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.
Those details will be vital to luring fresh investment to the table. But the greater concern will be the understanding that the circuit is haemorrhaging money 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’s new hierarchy will 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.
