Report: LIV Golf on verge of losing funding from Saudi investment fund, putting the tour's future in doubt - Yahoo Sports

Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), is reportedly on the verge of cutting funding for LIV Golf, a move the Financial Times said could effectively end the breakaway tour. A formal announcement could come "as early as Thursday," the FT reported, according to Yahoo Sports coverage. The PIF has put roughly $5 billion into LIV since the tour launched in 2022, even as the fund itself is colloquially valued in the neighborhood of $1 trillion.

“No, sincerely we haven’t heard anything,” Sergio Garcia said when asked about the rumors, adding that Yasir Al‑Rumayyan, governor of the PIF, had told players “he is behind us with a long‑term project.”

Context and recent developments

The report followed a late‑Tuesday social media post that set off speculation the Saudi‑backed circuit might shut down. LIV Golf responded publicly with business‑as‑usual social media posts about tee times and media availability for this week’s Mexico City event, scheduled to begin Thursday.

• The PIF has been the tour’s primary backer, reportedly investing around $5 billion into LIV.
• High‑profile signings over LIV’s four years included Jon Rahm (signed three years ago), Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and others; some contracts were reported to surpass nine figures.
• Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have left LIV and accepted terms to return to the PGA Tour, underlining unrest among players who joined the Saudi venture.

Longtime golf reporter Alan Shipnuck suggested a possible rationale for a sudden withdrawal: "Given the contracts LIV is under, including with players like Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, as well as venues, vendors, sponsors, media outlets and every other entity it takes to run a professional sporting league, using the war in Iran to pull the plug on something you’ve already been considering pulling the plug on actually makes sense," Shipnuck wrote. The Financial Times report also coincided with a PIF statement outlining future investment prerogatives that made no mention of golf or sport.

LIV’s brief history has been turbulent. Launched in 2022 with Greg Norman as a leading figure, the tour adopted a three‑round, 54‑hole shotgun format (the Roman numeral LIV equals 54), teams and entertainment elements that contrasted with traditional PGA Tour events. Early coverage focused on protests about the source of funding and human rights concerns. Phil Mickelson famously told Shipnuck, “They’re scary [expletives] to get involved with. We know they killed [Washington Post reporter Jamal] Khashoggi and have a horrible record on human rights. They execute people over there for being gay. Knowing all of this, why would I even consider it? Because this is a once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity to reshape how the PGA Tour operates.”

Outlook

If the PIF does cut funding, the consequences are likely terminal for LIV Golf as it presently exists. LIV has struggled with low television ratings, failed to land marquee signings since Rahm, and never progressed beyond a 2023 "joint framework agreement" with the PGA Tour that halted litigation but produced little operational merger. The disruption caused by LIV did, however, prompt changes at the PGA Tour, including a $1.5 billion cash infusion from outside investors such as Steve Cohen and Arthur Blank and new initiatives like the TGL indoor league. Whether those structural shifts will be the lasting legacy of LIV may become clearer in the coming days if the PIF confirms the Financial Times report.