LIV Golf Faces Uncertain Future After Saudi Pulls $5bn
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- Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund pulled its funding from LIV Golf after spending more than $5bn (£3.6bn) since 2022, cutting the season short and turning this week's Indianapolis finale into what one insider called 'the last hurrah.'
- LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil is pursuing a deal with Ted Goldthorpe, head of BC Partners' credit division, for 'LIV 2.0' — a reduced 10-event schedule across five continents built around franchise sales and financial discipline rather than lavish spending.
- Players were promised equity and Name Image Likeness rights under a new investor deal, but prize money at Indianapolis was roughly half of prior events — a concrete sign, per the source, that the 'free-spending days are over.'
- Vendors reportedly sued LIV over unpaid invoices, and routine player press conferences were cancelled because, per BBC Sport's understanding, players couldn't field questions they didn't have answers to.
- LIV leadership pointed to attendance figures — 115,000 fans in Adelaide (called Australia's highest-attended golf event), 100,000 in South Africa, and 50,000 at the UK event — as evidence the league can be rebuilt into a sustainable business.
- Players including Graeme McDowell and Cameron Smith struck cautious public tones, with McDowell calling the mood 'subdued' and saying '57 players out here have 57 different mindsets,' while Smith said he 'really loves LIV' but needed time to decide his future.
Why it matters: The end of Saudi unlimited funding forces a structural reset: prize purses and event counts are already being slashed, meaning LIV's 57 contracted players face real income cuts and uncertain schedules, while the PGA Tour — boosted partly by LIV's disruption — continues raising purses. O'Neil's bet on Goldthorpe is whether private equity can run a league that Saudi sovereign wealth couldn't make profitable.
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