LIV Golf 2026 season to continue with Saudi funding

LIV Golf's 2026 season will proceed as scheduled with full funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), sources told Reuters, ensuring the remaining nine events on the 14-tournament calendar will go ahead. The decision rebuts recent reports suggesting the PIF was considering cutting support for the rebel circuit and follows weeks of speculation about the tour's long‑term viability.

Statement from LIV Golf CEO

In an email to players seen by Reuters, LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil wrote: "Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle. 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." O'Neil framed the reports as part of the "moments of pressure" the startup movement signed up for and vowed to "put on the most compelling show in sports."

The confirmation from sources familiar with the PIF's investment and LIV operations arrives after The Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times reported that LIV executives had been summoned to an "emergency meeting" in New York and that the PIF was on the verge of reducing support. Reuters' reporting — by Frank Pingue in Toronto and edited by Clare Fallon and Lincoln Feast — cites those close to the PIF and LIV who said funding would continue for the nine remaining events.

Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia, who joined LIV in 2022, said he had not heard of any change to the tour's backing. "No, honestly, we haven’t heard anything other than what Yasir (Al‑Rumayyan, LIV Golf Chairman) told us at the beginning of the year - that he’s behind us, that they have a long‑term project," Garcia told media in Mexico City. "And well, honestly, you know how these rumours are. There are always a lot of them. And I can’t tell you anything more than what we already know."

LIV Golf, launched in 2022 and bankrolled by the PIF, has drawn major names with lucrative contracts and purses, including Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. The league has also been a flashpoint in wider golf politics: in June 2023 the PGA Tour, the PIF and the Europe‑based DP World Tour announced a framework to house commercial operations in a new entity, and that process has since involved outside investment such as Strategic Sports Group’s $1.5 billion initial put into PGA Tour Enterprises. Critics have decried LIV as a vehicle for the PIF to burnish Saudi Arabia’s reputation amid human rights scrutiny.

Operationally, LIV officials were on site this week at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City for the sixth event of the season. The tour has recorded large crowds at recent stops — LIV Golf Adelaide drew more than 115,000 spectators, and the March event in South Africa exceeded 100,000 attendees — underscoring the circuit’s commercial traction even as several notable players, including Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed, have departed.

Remaining 2026 LIV Golf schedule and near‑term outlook

• LIV Golf Mexico City — Apr. 16–19, Club de Golf Chapultepec, Mexico City
• LIV Golf Virginia — May 7–10, Trump National Golf Club Washington, D.C.
• LIV Golf Korea — May 28–31, Asiad Country Club, Busan
• LIV Golf Andalucía — June 4–7, Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande
• LIV Golf Louisiana — June 25–28, Bayou Oaks at City Park, New Orleans
• LIV Golf United Kingdom — July 23–26, JCB Golf & Country Club, Rocester
• LIV Golf New York — Aug. 6–9, Trump National (Bedminster), Bedminster
• LIV Golf Indianapolis — Aug. 20–23, The Club at Chatham Hills, Westfield
• LIV Golf Michigan (Team Championship) — Aug. 27–30, The Cardinal at Saint John’s Resort, Plymouth

Looking ahead, the tour’s sustained PIF backing — Reuters sources indicate funding will remain in place and previous reporting notes that funding for the league topped $5 billion through February — buys LIV time to stage its remaining events and pursue commercial momentum. But the broader industry ramifications — from deferred merger talks to political scrutiny in Washington — mean the league’s future beyond 2026 will remain a closely watched story across golf and global sports finance circles.