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LIV Golf players seem to believe the Saudi-backed tour is on its last legs.
LIV Golf lured PGA Tour players to its breakaway league with promises of unprecedented riches, but the seemingly endless bucket of Saudi cash might have a bottom after all.
Reports and rumors about Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund pulling its funding from LIV Golf have started to surface over the last two weeks. The veracity of those reports remains unclear, but multiple LIV golfers have begun mapping out a contingency plan in case the rival golf league shuts down after the 2026 season.
According to Today’s Golfer, several LIV Golf players have reached out to the DP World Tour for a life raft in case Saudi Arabia’s PIF pulls its funding. If LIV ceases operations after 2026, these players would need a backup plan to ensure they can continue playing professional golf. Since the PGA Tour has imposed strict penalties for those seeking to return from LIV Golf, the DP World Tour offers these players the best and cheapest option to keep their careers alive.
LIV Golf’s future is still littered with question marks, but this doesn’t paint an optimistic picture about 2027 and beyond.
LIV Golf’s Louisiana event is officially postponed. There is currently no LIV event scheduled between June 7th and July 23rd.
Governor Jeff Landry and Economic Development Secretary Bourgeois have released a joint statement about the event being postponed and potentially played
The LIV Golf League dished out hundreds of millions of dollars to convince star golfers to leave the PGA Tour. Its initial plan was successful, as Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and others ditched the major leagues of golf for an upstart tour. As it turns out, forking over that much cash with no plausible way to generate enough revenue isn’t a winning long-term strategy.
Recent reports have suggested that Saudi Arabia’s PIF could pull its funding for LIV Golf after the 2026 season, forcing LIV CEO Scott O’Neil to respond.
“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neil wrote in a recent email to his staff and players, per ESPN. “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.”
Two weeks later, the state of Louisiana postponed its LIV Golf event scheduled for June 25-28 in New Orleans “until LIV can restructure financially and find additional sources of funding,” per WDSU. This update has caused players to panic and seek out a contingency plan for 2027.
GettyJon Rahm might need to find a new employer soon.
Before Tuesday, tales of LIV Golf’s demise were nothing more than conjecture. Once the players start to take action, though, the threat becomes tangible.
According to Today’s Golfer, numerous LIV golfers are mapping out escape plans with the DP World Tour. DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings is also preparing for a potential wave of defectors in 2027.
“At the moment, we’re in the mode of just listening because we don’t know any more than anyone else does,” Kinnings told TG. “But we’ll listen, and we’ll make sure that we’re fully informed before we make the decisions that we need to do. But for sure, there are people who are concerned, and we will be having conversations with them at the right time.”
No one knows more about LIV Golf’s financial situation than the players themselves. If they’re starting to panic, that should tell you all you need to know about the Saudi-backed league’s future.
Jack Dougherty Jack Dougherty is an established sports journalist covering professional golf, Penn State football and the NFL with a focus on the Philadelphia Eagles for Heavy.com. His work has been featured on GoPSUSports.com, the Centre Daily Times, the Associated Press, Sportscasting, Sportmoney, Pro Golf Now and Yardbarker. More about Jack Dougherty
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