LIV Golf is reportedly on the brink of collapse, with speculation that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has pulled funding from the breakaway league. LIV Golf launched in 2022 and promised to revolutionise golf, but fast-forward four years, and it could be about to go extinct.
Action was set to resume following last week’s Masters, in South Africa, but doubt has been cast on whether it will go ahead. That’s because reports are circulating that the PIF could end their involvement with LIV as early as Thursday.
However, it was claimed by the Financial Times that a final decision has yet to be made, and the plan is to push forward with this week’s tournament in Mexico. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has put stress on Saudi Arabia’s finances, with estimates that around £7billion has already been lost since the war started earlier this year.
Simultaneously, LIV Golf hasn’t proved to be a profitable venture since its formation, with its UK entity, the body that operates its international tournaments, having lost more than £337million. CEO Scott O’Neil claimed LIV was still between five and 10 years away from becoming profitable.
He explained: ”There’s a commitment to the long term of this business, that’s beyond a shadow of a doubt.”
Meanwhile, recent reports suggested that LIV Golf was open to selling stakes in its teams for the first time, with valuations as high as £243m.
Bryson DeChambeau, one of the league’s biggest names, had committed himself to LIV Golf before the recent developments. When quizzed on what he thought of the potential investment, he said: “That’s the ultimate goal. That’s the business model. It’s taken a few years, but we’re getting to a place now where we’ve generated a lot of revenue and there’s some keen interest this year.”
Elsewhere, talk of a merger with the PGA Tour and European Tour had died down in recent months. Rory McIlroy revealed he believed it would be unlikely to happen because no side were willing to concede enough.
The Irishman said: “I don’t see a world where the two or three sides will give up enough. For reunification to happen, every side is going to feel like they will have lost, where you really want every side to feel like they have won. I think they are just too far apart for that to happen.”