Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced it will cease funding LIV Golf after the 2026 season, casting serious doubt on the league's future given its heavy reliance on PIF backing [1, 2, 3].
PIF has invested more than US$5 billion in LIV Golf since the league’s founding in 2021. LIV Golf launched in June 2022 as a breakaway golf series competing with the PGA Tour. It attracted major players including Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Jon Rahm through guaranteed contracts and lucrative prize money [2, 3].
Despite star power, LIV Golf has struggled to build a significant television audience or broad fan support. PIF framed its decision within a new 2030 investment strategy aimed at raising efficiency and sustained value creation [2]. A PIF statement said the fund "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" [1].
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said the tour will "work like crazy to create a business plan to keep us going" after funding ends. He also pledged the 2026 season will continue "exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle" [2, 3].
LIV Golf has seven events scheduled in 2026, including a tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. from May 7-10 [3]. Some players have declined offers to return to the PGA Tour and have reached out to the DP World Tour about potential play there. DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings said, "At the moment, we’re in the mode of just listening because we don’t know any more than anyone else does...But we’ll listen and we’ll make sure that we’re fully informed before we make the decisions that we need to do" [3].
The announcement follows a June 2023 Framework Agreement between PIF and the PGA Tour to drop lawsuits filed by LIV Golf, although a full cooperation deal was not reached [3].
LIV Golf plans to notify players and staff of the funding cut by April 30, 2026, with the tour continuing its scheduled events through the end of the 2026 season [2, 3].
