LIV Golf is reportedly set to collapse after Saudi Arabia’s PIF pulled its multi-billion dollar funding, likely ending the breakaway circuit’s war with the PGA Tour
LIV Golf is reportedly on the brink of total collapse after its Saudi Arabian paymasters moved to pull the plug on the controversial breakaway circuit. The rebel tour, which has been fighting for its life in recent weeks, looks set to be sensationally axed after losing the financial backing of its mega-rich Middle Eastern supporters.
Insiders suggest that LIV bosses are preparing to drop the bombshell on players and staff as early as Thursday morning, the Wall Street Journal reports.
It is understood the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) will no longer bankroll the series once the current season concludes.
The decision is likely to spell a definitive end for the upstart league that sparked a civil war in professional golf.
By pumping billions into the sport and poaching the PGA Tour’s biggest superstars with eye-watering contracts, LIV initially looked like an unstoppable force.
However, the potential death knell for the circuit comes as the PIF reportedly shifts its priorities, leaving the future of golf’s biggest rebels, including the likes of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, hanging in the balance.
The writing has been on the wall for nearly a month. When the PIF recently unveiled its strategic vision for the next five years, there was a glaring omission as the league that has fractured the golfing world since 2022 was left out.
While LIV successfully expanded the game’s global reach, the operation us understood to no longer align with the latest phase of the Saudi investment strategy.
Despite desperate attempts to secure outside investors to keep the lights on, experts believe it is virtually impossible for the circuit to survive in its current form.
As LIV scrambles to weigh up its options beyond 2026, the game’s biggest rebels are facing a terrifying reality check over their careers as the golfing establishment appears in no mood to offer them a warm welcome home.
Speaking hours before the Saudi bombshell, PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp said: “There were rules, and they were broken. With rules comes accountability.”
The cost of crawling back has already proven to be eye-watering. Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka recently defected back to the PGA Tour, but it came at a staggering price.
Under a one-time “returning member” scheme, Koepka could be hit for up to $90 million through a combination of forfeited bonuses, lost equity and mandatory charitable donations.
Crucially for the likes of Rahm and DeChambeau, that arrangement was only said to be a limited-time offer. Insiders suggest the window has slammed shut, leaving LIV’s remaining stars stranded in no-man’s-land without a map back to the big leagues.