Riyadh (Saudi Arabia) (AFP) – Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is cutting funding for the breakaway LIV Golf league after the 2026 season, a spokesperson from the fund told AFP on Thursday. The announcement came hours after LIV Golf, founded in 2021 as a rival to the PGA Tour, said it was seeking to secure “long-term financial partners.” It has reportedly cost PIF over $5 billion so far to operate the series after signing many of the world’s top players including Major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Spaniard Jon Rahm.
Saudi’s powerful wealth fund, however, said funding for the project would be axed as PIF looked to pare back a string of projects in the kingdom with the war in the Middle East raising fresh speculation about investment priorities moving forward. “PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season,” a spokesperson for the fund said in a statement provided to AFP. “The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy.”
Related news
LIV had said earlier Thursday it was seeking “long-term financial partners to support its transition from a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model.” There was also no mention of PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who co-founded the dissident league, in the LIV statement which simply mentioned two new board members — Gene Davis and Jon Zinman.
Uncertain future – Rumors had circulated for several weeks that the breakaway tour’s Saudi financing would be withdrawn. A collapse of LIV Golf could jeopardise the careers and earnings of its star players. The likes of DeChambeau defected from the PGA Tour in acrimonious circumstances and may face severe penalties if they try to return. Brooks Koepka became the first LIV player to return to the PGA fold when the five-time major winner jumped ship last December.
The 35-year-old American’s return was made possible as the PGA created a Returning Member Program for “elite performers who no longer have contractual limitations preventing them from complying with PGA Tour rules and regulations.” Former British Open champion Brian Harman, speaking at the PGA Tour event in Miami on Thursday, said that if more LIV golfers want to return, they, too, should face consequences. “I think there has to be something,” he said, saying it would help ease “bad blood and resentment,” especially over the anti-trust lawsuit that 11 LIV golfers filed against the PGA Tour challenging their suspensions.
But Harman noted that it was too soon to say just how many golfers might be abandoning LIV. “I’m not sure that they’re closing shop,” he said. “The funding’s drying up. They could secure funding from somewhere else and keep going. They have got a lot of big name players over there, guys that move the needle. Until it’s all done, until you’ve got guys that are actually calling and trying to come back to the tour, it’s not really a problem that we’re dealing with currently.”
LIV Golf postponed its planned June tournament in New Orleans on Tuesday but said it hoped to reschedule. LIV’s next tournament is set for May 7-10 at Trump National in suburban Washington. US President Donald Trump said Thursday he would love to see top golfers like Masters champion and PGA Tour loyalist Rory McIlroy playing regularly against the likes of Rahm and DeChambeau. “Now they’ll all be accepted by the tour …they’ll all be back on tour and it’ll be great,” Trump said, but added: “I’m not sure what’s happening with LIV, but they are playing at my course in two weeks, on the Potomac,” he noted.
Earlier this month, PIF announced its 2026-2030 strategy would reorganise the fund’s investments. The announcement came as the kingdom and wider Middle East has been upended by the ongoing war in the region. The Gulf was hit hard by Iranian barrages on infrastructure, including airports, energy installations, and ports following the US and Israeli attack on Iran in late February. But even before the war, Saudi Arabia’s economic reforms were coming under pressure, with persistently low oil prices in recent years shrinking government revenues and triggering deficit spending.
© 2024 AFP
