Alan Shipnuck has suggested that there is a real chance that LIV Golf may have already held their final event of the 2026 season, with doubts over the league’s immediate future.
LIV’s situation has looked precarious for some time. Shortly after The Masters, reports emerged suggesting that there was a question mark over the funding.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia will indeed withdraw their financial support after this season. It was subsequently announced that June’s event in New Orleans had been postponed – though the league expressed a hope to hold it later in the year.
But perhaps there are no guarantees that the league will play again this season.
Doubt over the remainder of the LIV Golf season
LIV is now starting a seven-week run where they have no events. In that time, those behind the scenes are likely to be working on finding new investment for next season.
However, Front Office Sports has reported that LIV may not have even the funds to see out this season.
Journalist Alan Shipnuck was subsequently asked on Dan on Golf whether this past week at Valderrama may have seen the last LIV Golf event as we know it.
“It’s getting more likely, put it that way, because there’s a little roar. I bumped into a guy at Pebble Beach, who’s very wired in, and he’s like, ‘It’s done, it’s over. Spain’s the last one’. Who knows? The funding is there, is the will there, just to fulfil these promises? There’s a lot of half built skyscrapers on the skyline in Riyadh, where the Saudis have a history of just walking away. ‘We’re done’. They can be utterly ruthless. And so, they’ve certainly given guys plenty of time to work on their plan B. It’s messy for a lot of them. I think no one would be surprised, put it that way,” he said.
“The LIV content machine never ends. [Valderrama’s] a big time golf course. Tyrrell Hatton was awesome. And yet, that Front Office Sports report drops and all we’re talking about now, it’s kind of like in modern politics, no one talks about policy. It’s all the horse race and the polls and the numbers. That’s the exact equivalent of LIV. No one cares about your healthcare plan. So here we are again. There’ll be a lot of intrigues, there’ll be a lot of leaks, a lot of posturing. The next seven weeks, just going to be information war.
“I think there’s no doubt that the players and the people around them, the team managers, like they’re paddling hard. They’re trying to find investors, they’re calling everybody in their phone. They’re leaning on people. There is a will amongst the players to keep it going. And $10 million purses is a big comedown from 30, but it’s still better than the DP World Tour. Still better than the Asian Tour. At $10 million a pop, LIV would still be your second best option. And for a lot of these guys, they don’t really have anywhere else to go. So, internally, people are trying hard, but the marketplace will decide, and it’s going to be fascinating.”
LIV Golf should not be afraid to call time on the season prematurely
There must be a temptation for those associated with LIV to pull the plug on the rest of the season.
Obviously, they have to factor in everyone who would lose out from the final handful of events not taking place.
But from a golfing perspective, LIV’s top players would surely not suffer. Ultimately, there are no events scheduled now until after The Open Championship has taken place.
So there are no more opportunities on LIV for their players to prepare for the majors.
The time may be better spent focusing on how they are going to move forward when the 2027 season arrives.
It is almost certain that LIV will look drastically different from next year when you consider how much the PIF have invested over the last few years.
If LIV is going to thrive in the long-term, they surely need to make a statement in 2027. So it would not be the worst thing to take themselves out of the limelight over the next few months.
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