LIV Golf will survive thanks to a 'lead investor'

It was on the brink of collapse, but it will ultimately continue to exist. LIV Golf secured funding through a "lead investor" to ensure its continuity as a professional golf tour beyond 2026.

"LIV Golf has an agreement in place with a lead investor, signed by the investor and approved by the Board, to anchor the transaction and play a key role in supporting the path forward for the league's next era, driven by and for the players," confirmed the tour's CEO, Scott O'Neil, in a statement reported by AFP.

"We're also seeing strong interest from more than a dozen additional parties to potentially serve as minority investors, creating a multi-partner model built for long-term stability and growth," O'Neil added.

The problems began a few months ago. In April, Saudi Arabia, through its Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced that it would stop funding LIV Golf at the end of the year due to the tour's lack of profits. "PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season. The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy," it stated.

LIV Golf was launched in 2022 to compete against the PGA Tour and become the benchmark for professional golf. To that end, the tour's management brought in stars such as Americans Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, Spaniards Jon Rahm and Sergio García, as well as Chilean Joaquín Niemann.