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mark schlabach
multiple authors
Amid reports that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is on the verge of pulling its funding for the league, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neill told employees in an email on Wednesday that its season will go on “as planned, uninterrupted and in full swing.”
The email, which was obtained by ESPN, did not directly address reports that the PIF could stop investing in the breakaway circuit in 2022 after spending more than $5 billion since its inception, or whether the league would continue holding competitions after this season.
“I want to be absolutely clear: our season will continue exactly as planned, uninterrupted and with full vigor,” O’Neill wrote in an email. “While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the ground. We are moving to the heart of our 2026 program with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder and more impactful than ever before.”
LIV Golf is scheduled to play its sixth tournament of the season at Club de Golf Chapultepec, near Mexico City, starting Thursday. Its first tournament in the US is scheduled for May 7-10 at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia.
“The life of the startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure,” O’Neill wrote. “We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We’ve faced adversity since the beginning, and we’ve responded with resilience and grace every time. Now, we respond by doing what we do best: delivering the most compelling performances in sports.”
The Financial Times and other outlets reported on Wednesday that the PIF is on the verge of pulling its funding for LIV Golf. A source familiar with the situation told ESPN that league officials were on the field in Mexico City on Wednesday.
The league promised to be a more entertaining version of professional golf with shotgun starts, 54-hole events, and team and individual competitions.
While LIV Golf has drawn large crowds to its tournaments in Australia, South Africa and other international sites, it has struggled to gain a foothold in the US, with low TV ratings and limited commercial revenue from its broadcast deals with The CW and Fox Sports.
It also struggled to secure contracts to stage its events at the top-rated courses in the US, frustrating many of its star players who did not feel they were properly preparing to compete in major championships.
PIF has invested more than $5 billion in LIV Golf by 2022, reportedly spending $100 million per month over the past three-plus years. Most of that money was spent on golfers’ contracts and tournament purses, which increased from $25 million to $30 million this season. An additional $5 million went into the team’s purse.
With guaranteed contracts reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars, LIV Golf – led by former CEO Greg Norman, with the help of six-time major champion Phil Mickelson – was able to lure former major champions such as john rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, cameron smith, dustin johnson, brooks koepka And others are away from the PGA Tour.
The tour played its first tournament at the Centurion Club in England in June 2022.
Norman described LIV Golf as “disruptive” and a champion for players’ rights, arguing that golfers should be allowed to play anywhere in the world, not just on one tour.
Then-PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan suspended more than 30 golfers for competing in LIV golf tournaments without releasing any controversial events.
Eleven LIV golfers, including DeChambeau, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour in August 2022, accusing it of using its monopoly powers to crush competition and influence vendors, media companies and others to avoid working with LIV Golf. The PGA Tour countersued, accusing LIV Golf of interfering with its contracts with players.
The legal drama took a surprise turn in June 2023 when the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and DP World Tour signed a framework agreement to form an alliance and move forward into a larger commercial business. The Circuit said the agreement ended all pending litigation between the parties. LIV was prepared to invest up to $1.5 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises, the golf tour’s new for-profit unit.
Monahan was strongly criticized for negotiating the deal in secret and leaving PGA Tour members in the dark. The deal was also scrutinized by the US Senate Permanent Subcommittee, which held a three-hour hearing in July 2023 to investigate the planned merger. Senators raise concerns about “sportswashing”, antitrust issues and Saudi influence in the US
The PGA Tour and PIF worked for more than a year to finalize the deal, including meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, but the merger was never completed. The PGA Tour then reached an agreement with Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of billionaire sports team owners, to invest up to $3 billion in PGA Tour Enterprises.
LIV Golf suffered a few setbacks ahead of this season when five-time major champion Koepka asked to be released from his contract to return to the PGA Tour. patrick reedThe 2018 Masters champion also did not renew his deal and plans to return to the PGA Tour this fall.
Koepka returned to the PGA Tour as part of its new Returning Member program, which allows LIV golfers who have been away from the tour for at least two years – and who have won The Players Championship or one of the four major championships (Masters, PGA Championship, US Open and The Open Championship) through 2022 – to return under certain conditions and with no severe financial penalties.
DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith were also eligible to return but elected to remain with LIV Golf. The period for their return ended on 2 February. At the time, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp, who replaced Monahan, described the event as “a one-time, defined window and is not a precedent for future situations.”
In February, O’Neill – who replaced Norman in January 2025 – was able to lead LIV Golf into the Official World Golf Ranking, awarding world-ranking points to top-10 finishers and ties in its events.
