Sports

Saudi Arabia to Pull LIV Golf Funding After 2026

Is this a failed experiment that's finally collapsing or a disruptive force that must now set out on its own?

Published APR 30

Saudi Arabia to Pull LIV Golf Funding After 2026

Story

Above: Golfer Jon Rahm during day four of the LIV Golf Mexico City at Club de Golf on April 19. Image credit: Hector Vivas/Getty Images

The Facts

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced that it will stop financing LIV Golf after the 2026 season, ending a relationship that has seen the sovereign wealth fund invest more than $5 billion in the breakaway circuit since its launch in June 2022.
Shai Akabas
ESPN
The Wall Street Journal
PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who championed LIV Golf as part of Saudi Arabia's broader push to diversify its economy, stepped down as the league's chairman. LIV announced a new independent board led by restructuring advisers Gene Davis and Jon Zinman.
Shai Akabas
CNN
LIV Golf said it is seeking a "diversified, multi-partner investment model" to sustain operations beyond 2026. Sources indicate the league is open to restructuring options, including fewer tournaments, international-only events or a merger with the DP World Tour.
USA Today
ESPN
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said any return for LIV players would be assessed case by case, noting "there were rules, and they were broken." Brooks Koepka rejoined the Tour in 2026 under a returning member program that could cost him up to $90 million.
FOX News
The Wall Street Journal
The PGA Tour's returning member program was limited to players who had won a major or The Players Championship between 2022 and 2025. Besides Koepka, only Jon Rahm, Cameron Smith and Bryson DeChambeau qualified, though none of the three applied before the Feb. 2 deadline.
FOX News
Golf Digest
Representatives for multiple LIV players have contacted the PGA Tour to explore a return, according to reports. Players who participated in an antitrust lawsuit against the Tour, including DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, are expected to face additional scrutiny.
Newsmax
Golf Digest

Sources Split

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RIGHT

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CRIT

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PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

LIV Golf is finished as a serious competitor to the PGA Tour, and Saudi funding drying up after 2026 exposes what was always true — the league never had a real business model, just a blank check. Ratings were comically low throughout its four-year run, and the only reason top players signed was for grotesquely inflated contracts. Now those players face steep suspensions and tough qualifying hurdles to get back on Tour, and the PGA Tour isn't rolling out the welcome mat.

MyGolfSpy

FOX News

Narrative B

LIV Golf isn't dead yet, having already mapped out its 2027 events and actively pursuing new investment to keep the league running. Successful tournaments in Australia and South Africa proved that real demand exists for professional golf outside the U.S. market. With this move from Saudi Arabia, the league, which pushed purses higher across professional golf and earned global ranking points, must now set out on its own to continue revolutionizing the sport worldwide.