LIV Golf will run as planned in 2026 according to the league’s CEO, as media reports suggest its funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund may soon end.
The Financial Times reported on Wednesday that the PIF was on the verge of cutting its support for the LIV Golf League, which hosts an annual event in Adelaide.
The league is hosting a tournament in Mexico City this week, the sixth event of 14 in the 2026 season.
In an email, seen by Reuters, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil reassured players this season was not in any danger on not being completed.
“I want to be crystal clear: our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neil’s email read.
“While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.
“The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports.
“The noise you hear is simply the sound of a movement that is working. Embrace it. We are pioneers, and while the road isn’t always smooth, the destination is worth every mile.
“Let’s go out and show the world why LIV Golf is the future of the game.”
The future of the league was called into question with a report on Wednesday morning that league executives had been summoned to New York City for an emergency summit.
The Financial Times reported that PIF could make an announcement as soon as Thursday about cutting its support for the league.
Press conferences in Mexico City were cancelled on Tuesday with the league citing power outages, but Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC did hold their scheduled session with the media on Wednesday.
Sergio Garcia says players were told at the beginning of the year that LIV Golf’s future was secure. (Getty Images: Angel Martinez)
The 46-year-old, who captains LIV team Fireballs GC, spoke to media on Wednesday ahead of this week’s tournament in Mexico City.
Responding to questions about LIV’s future, Garcia said he could only go on what players were told by PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
“That is not what Yasir told us at the beginning of the year,” Garcia said, as reported by the BBC.
“[He told us] that he is behind us, that they have a project of many years. There are always rumours and I cannot comment anything more to you than what we know.”
LIV Golf formally launched in late 2021 with the backing of PIF and Australian great Greg Norman as the inaugural CEO.
Anthony Kim won the LIV Golf Adelaide tournament in February. (AAP: MAtt Turner)
There were eight tournaments held in its maiden season in 2022, with high-profile players including Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Phil Mickelson joining the league.
Adelaide became the home of LIV Golf in Australia in 2023, when the tournament played at The Grange Golf Club.
Grange is scheduled to continue hosting the annual Adelaide event before a slated move to Kooyonga Golf Club in 2027, and then the redeveloped North Adelaide Golf Course in 2028.
The PIF has reportedly poured more than $US5 billion ($6.96 billion) into LIV Golf since it launched with lucrative contracts and massive tournament purses.
Documents lodged with the UK’s Companies House last October showed LIV Golf’s UK arm — which is responsible for the golf tour’s operations outside the United States — lost $US461.3 million in 2024.
That is on top of $US393.9 million lost in 2023 and $US243.7 million lost in the 18 months to the end of 2022.
With total losses amounting to more than $US1.1 billion over three years, the company’s directors wrote that there was “a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt over the Group and Parent Company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
In January, the BBC reported a senior source in Saudi Arabia said the kingdom was re-evaluating PIF’s investments, with a potential shift towards AI and technology.
Reuters/ABC
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