LIV Golf is scrambling for a second act after its dominant backer said it won't foot the bill beyond 2026. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, which has poured more than $5 billion into the upstart league since 2022, announced Thursday it will only fund LIV through the end of the 2026 season, calling the long-term cash demands "no longer consistent" with its current strategy. PIF Gov. Yasir Al-Rumayyan is expected to give up his role as LIV's chairman, ESPN reports, and the league has created a new independent board to hunt for fresh capital. The PGA Tour said it's in no hurry to let LIV defectors rejoin it.
That board will be led by turnaround specialists Gene Davis and Jon Zinman, who are tasked with finding answers that could include fewer events, a more international schedule, or even a merger with the DP World Tour. LIV said that revenue has more than doubled since 2025 and that several events and teams are on track to be profitable this season, but the league still faces massive fixed costs: guaranteed contracts worth hundreds of millions for stars like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, roughly $40 million to stage each tournament, and no traditional US TV deal in the face of soft ratings.
The league insists its team-based, global model is gaining commercial traction. The Wall Street Journal reports there looks to be no way a reconstituted LIV Golf can resemble the current model, given that the Saudis lost billions on big prizes and top players. LIV's relationship with mainstream golf would be ending as it began: with tension. Those players who want to come back, as Brooks Koepka did in December, won't find the PGA Tour putting the welcome mat out. "There were rules, and they were broken," chief executive Brian Rolapp said. "With rules comes accountability."
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