Is this the end for LIV? Where does Saudi withdrawal leave golf and the players?

Can LIV find new backers and what are the options for Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Lee Westwood and others?

Confirmation that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund will cease funding the LIV Golf tour will have huge ramifications, for the future of the tour itself, the players and across golf’s traditional heartlands. Where does PIF’s withdrawal leave them all?

Certainly in its present form, as a 14-event entity worth $30m per tournament. LIV was entirely reliant on Saudi Arabian money, to the tune of more than $5bn since 2021. The cash burn rate, albeit slowed down recently, has always been unsustainable.

It is feasible that Scott O’Neil, LIV’s chief executive, will find backers for the business at a level which means it can be prolonged in some way. He has already attracted marquee sponsors and overseen significant revenue growth.

LIV needs an equivalent to the Strategic Sports Group, a private equity enterprise which ploughed $1.5bn into the PGA Tour in 2024. O’Neil can point to success in markets the PGA Tour has ignored.