LIV Golf faces funding cut as Saudi Public Investment Fund pulls out
PGA Tour announcer Doug Bell discusses reports that the Saudi Public Investment Fund will cease funding the LIV Golf league after the current season, jeopardizing its future. LIV Golf has incurred reported losses between $6 and $9 billion since its 2021 launch, surprising many agents and players. This significant financial shift underscores a broader reevaluation of investment priorities by Saudi Arabia.
The LIV Golf Tour seems to be at a major turning point.Â
Rumors swirled about the breakaway golf format over the last few weeks, when reports broke that an announcement was imminent about the future of the Tour and its relationship with the Saudi Arabia-backed Public Investment Fund.Â
Then, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil confirmed that the Saudis would be pulling their financial support for LIV after the end of the 2026 season. While most have assumed that would mean the end of the league entirely, O’Neil told TNT Sports that he had a “business plan” to keep the league going.Â
“The reality is you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going. But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of man,” O’Neil said.
Whether the league can secure funding from other sources after the season remains to be seen, but O’Neil was adamant in an internal memo that the remainder of the 2026 season would go on “exactly as planned, uninterrupted, and full throttle.”
Well, that’s officially no longer the case.
Bryson DeChambeau reacts on the second green during day one of LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City on April 16, 2026. (Hector Vivas/Getty Images)
LIV backs out of upcoming event in Louisiana
Local Louisiana media outlet WDSU reported on Monday afternoon that the Tour’s event in New Orleans in late-June would no longer take place as scheduled. An announcement, the report said, could come as soon as Tuesday.Â
Per WDSU, the state of Louisiana postponed the event until “LIV can restructure financially and find additional sources of funding.”Â
The Athletic reported that there are still hopes of hosting a “re-envisioned event in the fall” in New Orleans, though what that event would entail is also unclear. The state had already spent roughly $2 million to improve the Bayou Oaks in City Park golf course, and paid a $1.2 million hosting fee to LIV. That $1.2 million will reportedly be returned to the state.
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Without question, it is a concerning sign for the financial state of the Tour that this event has been canceled. And it raises questions about the rest of the summer schedule. Without the Louisiana event, LIV no longer has a tournament between June 4-7 in Spain and July 23-26 in the United Kingdom.Â
The next stop is LIV Golf Virginia at Trump National Golf Club in Lowes Island on May 7-10 before they head to South Korea in late May.
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Scott O’Neil attends a press conference in Johannesburg to announce LIV Golf’s return in 2027 on March 22, 2026. (Johan Rynners/Getty Images)
How this plays out for the remainder of 2026, 2027 and beyond is anyone’s guess. Bryson DeChambeau’s contract, arguably LIV’s biggest draw, expires at the end of the year. And given his earnings, and the earnings and promises made to players like Jon Rahm, other investors will have a hefty bill to foot should they want to keep LIV going as currently constructed.Â
The cancellation of the Louisiana event implies that there might be more uncertainty there than O’Neil has been willing to admit.
