LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil confirmed that the league is only funded through the rest of the 2026 season and then he’ll “work like crazy” to keep it going.
On Wednesday, the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and New York Times all reported that the Saudi Public Investment Fund was on the verge of pulling its funding for the five-year-old tour, with other reports that LIV players had not received their first-quarter guarantees and some vendors had not been paid. The same day, the PIF’s governor and primary LIV backer, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, announced the approval of a new five-year strategic plan that reprioritized the kingdom’s domestic spending and reduced its international investments. LIV was not specifically mentioned.
O’Neil didn’t immediately deny the reports, only saying in a memo to staffers later that day that the business was moving ahead “full throttle.” However, Golf Channel insider Rex Hoggard reported that the league was only fully funded through the remainder of the 2026 season, not the 2032 timeline that O’Neil had been telling industry sources last week at the Masters.
On Thursday in Mexico City, with LIV hosting its sixth of 14 scheduled events, O’Neil appeared on the LIV broadcast – which was off-line for hours because of a technical issue – as well as TNT Sports (UK) to provide an update. He claimed that “LIV Golf is in the best shape it’s ever been in its history, period, end of sentence,” while acknowledging that its future funding was uncertain.
“The reality is you’re funded through the season and then you work like crazy to create a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said. “But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.”
O’Neil said he received “great endorsements” from golf executives last week at the Masters and was bullish on the league’s future, even perhaps without the Saudis’ considerable financial backing, which reports have pegged at more than $5 billion. He said the “essence of the return on this business will come through the equity on our teams.” Previously, he’d maintained the league was five to 10 years away from profitability.
One of those LIV teams is captained by Bryson DeChambeau, one of the game’s most popular players whose contract is due to expire at the end of the year. Earlier this year, DeChambeau rejected the PGA Tour’s offer through a newly created returning member program that would have seen him rejoin the Tour after meeting certain conditions. LIV’s unstable future has only heightened the interest surrounding his plans.
When asked by TNT Sports about the prospect of re-signing DeChambeau, O’Neil said that he’s “pretty confident we’ll find a solution.”
O’Neil added that the league will continue to take a different approach to its roster construction, focusing less on signing marquee names and instead trying to create “World Cup-style” teams based on player nationalities. He said on the broadcast that they are “looking to blend a version of LIV and the national opens,” calling them “the most underappreciated, undermarketed and underdeveloped assets in golf.”
“You can bet that you’ll more likely have more international players and bet on young talent,” O’Neil said. “I like young, and then we’ll have a little more experienced guys that represent the country that we’re playing.”