LIV Golf – the game’s controversial breakaway league – is denying any modifications to its operation after a number of stories recommended the future of the group is doubtful.
“LIV Golf’s funding and operations are continuing as planned,” a supply with data of the state of affairs informed NCS Sports on Wednesday.
Multiple reports Wednesday indicated that the Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) is contemplating pulling funding from the team-based entity that lured away large names from the PGA Tour over the final a number of years.
Those stories, together with rampant social media hypothesis concerning the group’s future, led CEO Scott O’Neil to ship a letter to staff that despatched a easy message: LIV is shifting ahead as planned.
“While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before,” O’Neill wrote in a letter shared with NCS Sports.
“The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports.”
Launched in 2022 with an preliminary $400 million funding, LIV Golf seemed to rival the PGA Tour by that includes $250 million in prize purses, initially threatening to shake the foundations of the game.
The league is primarily funded by PIF, the sovereign wealth fund chaired by Mohammed bin Salman – the crown prince of Saudi Arabia and the person who a US intelligence report named as accountable for approving the operation that led to the 2018 homicide of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Bin Salman has denied involvement in Khashoggi’s homicide.
The Saudi Arabian authorities has been coping with the financial fallout from the conflict between the United States and Iran and the following results on the oil markets that are so profitable to the Saudi authorities.
Saudi power infrastructure has been the goal of Iranian assaults and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has had a dramatic impact on the motion – and value – of oil drilled within the Middle East.
Reports in The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and others indicated that the conflict is inflicting a change of coronary heart contained in the PIF and the fund is getting ready to drag its funding from LIV.
O’Neil answered these stories by telling staff: “To the teams in New York, London, and those on the ground here with me in Mexico: lean into this moment. The noise you hear is simply the sound of a movement that is working. Embrace it. We are pioneers, and while the road isn’t always smooth, the destination is worth every mile.”
LIV lured high-profile golfers with exorbitant sums to leap from the PGA Tour to compete in preliminary 54-hole occasions all over the world, the place gamers may put on shorts, by no means miss a minimize and tee off to bumpin’ music. Big names – together with Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Brooks Koepka, Patrick Reed, Cameron Smith and Sergio Garcia, all main winners – took the cash and bolted for the breakaway tour.
In December, Koepka quit LIV with a 12 months remaining on his contract to return to the PGA Tour, a transfer that carried important monetary repercussions underneath the Tour’s “Returning Member Program.”
Earlier this 12 months, Reed additionally announced he would transfer on from LIV to hunt reinstatement inside the PGA Tour for the 2027 season.
The LIV Golf circuit is at the moment internet hosting the collection’ sixth match of the 2026 season outdoors of Mexico City. Amid stories of an emergency assembly in New York City – the place LIV is headquartered – over the group’s future, O’Neil’s letter signifies he has been in Mexico City getting ready for the match.
According to LIV, the group is rising its income and is monitoring $100 million forward of 2025 up to now this 12 months. Sponsorships and merchandise income are each up year-over-year and ticket gross sales are up 129% year-over-year.
The subsequent occasion on the schedule is about to tee off on May 7 at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, DC.