Saudi Arabia to Pull Funding for LIV Golf After 2026 Season
The war between the United States and Iran and the resulting financial chaos may have claimed another victim: LIV Golf.
New Saudi-backed golf league, meant to rival PGA Tour’s professional golf monopoly, is on the brink of failure, says The Wall Street Journal. THE Newspaper claims LIV Golf will inform its players on Thursday that the Saudi Public Investment Company (PIF) will withdraw its funding at the end of the 2026 season.
News of PIF’s decision to reduce its funding for LIV Golf comes as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia reevaluates its investments amid changing economic realities brought on by the war between the United States and Iran.
The Saudi PIF has invested more than $5 billion in LIV Golf since 2022.
This decision is not a complete shock. Two weeks ago, Scott O’Neil, CEO of LIV Golf, let slip during an interview with TNT Sports UK that the league was only funded for this season.
“The reality is you are funded throughout the season and then you work like crazy as a company to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said in an interview with TNT Sports UK.
“But it’s no different than any other private equity-backed company in human history.”
TNT Sports UK published O’Neil’s comments about X and then deleted them.
However, according to the Journal, this will effectively be the last year of Saudi participation.
LIV Golf now finds itself faced with the prospect of having to quickly acquire investors to compensate for the loss of financing from the Saudi PIF. A daunting task, considering the organization reported average losses of $500 million to $600 million each year.
In addition to the financial hemorrhage, the loss of Saudi funding and uncertainty over its future prospects will make it even more difficult for players to withdraw from the PGA Tour.
If LIV Golf were to disappear, former PGA Tour players who jumped ship to join the new Saudi-backed league could find it difficult to rejoin the Tour.
Former LIV Golf member Brooks Koepka recently returned to the PGA Tour. However, certain conditions included a $5 million charitable donation, ineligibility for the Player Equity Program for five years, and no payment for the FedEx Cup in its first year.
For a player like Bryson DeChambeau, LIV Golf’s best player alongside Jon Rahm, the price of the return could be much higher, given that DeChambeau not only refused to join Koepka, but was also part of a group that filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
That lawsuit went nowhere, but PGA Tour members and executives probably won’t forget it.
“There were rules, and they were broken,” said PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp. Newspaper. “Rules imply responsibility. »
Hurt feelings aside, DeChambeau and Rahm are among the best players in the world and will, in all likelihood, be picked up even if painful retaliation is employed.
As for the less popular players who flocked to LIV Golf, the PGA Tour door might be closed.
“We want to have the best players who can help our tour,” Rolapp said. “Not every player can do that.”
