LIV Golf made waves when it was created, signing away major champions and stars of golf to lavish contracts and challenge the PGA Tour’s dominance in the sport. But time seems to be running out on the vagabond golf league after its enormous financial backer has backed out.
The news that Saudi Arabia’s Private Investment Fund was ending its support of the tour that it helped birth shook the golf world in April, and it’s still unclear exactly what it means for both golf leagues. It didn’t help that a standard news conference before LIV’s event in Mexico was delayed by a day due to “technical difficulties” shortly after the rumors kicked into high gear.
Major winners such as Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson left for LIV Golf. Legends like Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia did, too. Even some of the game’s top stars, from Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to Joaquin Niemann and Cameron Smith, chose the giant money promised by the PIF to join the renegade league. And now some, including Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed, have already started working their way back to the PGA Tour as the future of LIV is on life support.
LIV Golf announced that the league would complete its season as scheduled, though it has already pushed back a tournament. Its tournaments are still aired on TV, but they’re becoming harder to find as it seems the end is near. Here’s what we know about the current state of LIV Golf, starting at the beginning.
What is LIV Golf? How is it different from the PGA Tour?
LIV Golf started in 2022 as a looser alternative to the more traditional PGA Tour. The biggest difference between the two tours is their format: Whereas the typical PGA Tour event comprises about 150 players competing individually, LIV features 13 teams of four players each going for individual and team championships, with both titles determined on a points system. When it began, LIV also had only three rounds in its tournaments compared to the four rounds on the PGA Tour (its name comes from the Roman numeral for 54, the amount of holes it would play). However, the tour changed to the traditional 72-hole format for the 2026 season, claiming it was “marking the next chapter of LIV Golf’s mission to grow and celebrate the sport for a new era of players and fans around the world.”
LIV also is a global tour that includes stops in Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Africa, Hong Kong and South Kora, in addition to stops in the United States. Aside from the occasional event in Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean and the British and Scottish Opens, the PGA Tour sticks to the U.S.
Is LIV Golf shutting down?
No, but it doesn’t look good. After negotiations on a long-rumored merger with the PGA Tour went nowhere (despite President Donald Trump’s involvement), the future of the tour was left in limbo. Those doubts accelerated when emergency meetings were called in April regarding the tour’s future as the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which bankrolled the breakaway league, announced it was making sweeping budget cuts. The PIF made it official April 30 that it would no longer fund LIV after the 2026 season.
LIV co-founder Yasir Al-Rumayyan stepped down as chairman on April 29, and the tour announced a day later that it restructured its board and would seek long-term investors. Considering it was reportedly paying players hundreds of millions of dollars, previously unheard of in the world of golf, it would take a lot of commitment to measure up to the loss of the PIF’s backing.
The league postponed its scheduled stop in Louisiana in June, saying it would instead look at holding it in the fall. No new dates have been announced.
Has anybody left LIV Golf?
Players have expressed their disappointment with LIV Golf before the current financial unrest even started. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed are the biggest names to make their return, but it’s not as simple as it might seem. Koepka was granted an expedited return to the tour because he was a major during his time in LIV, playing his first event in late January but not allowed to play in the limited-field Signature Events. Reed is playing on the DP World Tour this season as he remains suspended from the PGA Tour until 2027.
In total, 11 players left LIV Golf before the 2026 season. Kevin Na, who has five PGA Tour wins in his career, also left, while others have reportedly reached out to the PGA Tour to ask about their options.
Is Bryson DeChambeau or Jon Rahm leaving LIV Golf?
For now at least, it appears LIV Golf’s two biggest stars are sticking around. Two-time U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau said that if LIV does shut down, he would rather build out his YouTube empire than return to the PGA Tour. Meanwhile, 2023 Masters champ Jon Rahm told reporters that, while he reached an agreement with the DP World Tour to play in the 2027 Ryder Cup and a handful of other events, his contract with LIV has several years remaining.
The Spaniard said he hasn’t considered alternatives yet if the league were to fold, but if he were to follow Patrick Reed’s route, he could play the DP World Tour for a year before coming back to the PGA Tour. None of that is set in stone, however.
LIV Golf schedule
Here’s a look at the remaining LIV schedule and how to watch on TV and live streaming.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: LIV Golf on its last legs. Why DeChambeau still won’t return to PGA Tour
Reporting by Dan Rorabaugh, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
