When LIV Golf was launched in 2022, its plan was to issue a challenge and disruption to professional golf’s status quo, founding a rival circuit specifically to the PGA Tour and poaching star players in an attempt to reshape the image of the sport. Fast forward to 2026, and the Saudi-backed league is potentially on the verge of collapse.
According to reports from CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, LIV Golf will inform their players and staffers Thursday that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), who fully finances the circuit, will withdraw their financial support at the end of the 2026 campaign. The move will end the PIF’s investment after injecting over $5 billion into LIV since its start. (RELATED: Several LIV Golfers Silently Preparing Next Steps In Careers: REPORT)
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the chairman of the PIF who is also LIV Golf’s chairman of the board, resigned from his position with the league Wednesday, per Sports Business Journal.
Breaking: After weeks on life support, LIV Golf has lost the funding of its Saudi backers, sounding the death knell for the upstart league that split pro golf https://t.co/7bXzthz667
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) April 29, 2026
Saudi Arabia is in a reevaluation of their capital and investments in sports, as well as the current war between the United States and Iran.
Originally, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil provided pushback against reports that the Public Investment Fund was eliminating their investment worth billions of dollars, saying a couple of weeks prior that the circuit had full funding until the conclusion of 2026. Now, the league is facing a situation that has turned into a reality, and will be forced to reorganize to keep operations going.
LIV Golf recently postponed its New Orleans-based tournament that was set for June, and just days later, the circuit is now tasked with finding investors that are able to put forward major funding that will keep it in business in 2027 and beyond.