LIV Golf cuts ties with Saudi PIF, announces plan

Two weeks in the past, LIV Golf did its best to conceal the fact that the Saudi Public Investment Fund would stop to bankroll the league after the current season, only to have LIV Chief Executive Officer Scott O’Neil let the reality slip during a tv interview.

This week, the intentions of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, or PIF, and penalties to LIV are recognized by all.

LIV Golf announced Thursday that it has established a new impartial board that will attempt to keep the league afloat using a “diversified, multi-partner investment model.” In other phrases, a model that doesn’t embody PIF.

PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will no longer serve as LIV Golf chairman, another unmistakable signal that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund price an estimated $1 trillion is cutting ties with the financially troubled LIV.

LIV Golf was supposed to be a key element in Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s “Vision 2030” plan to diversify the dominion’s financial system away from oil. PIV lured megastar golfers Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and others away from the PGA Tour by shoveling a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} into their bank accounts.

Al-Rumayyan, Prince Bin Salman’s trusted technocrat, was charged with implementing the plan, but LIV Golf has failed to appeal to vital viewership or industrial sponsors despite innovations such as a 54-hole format and a group model.

When LIV and the PGA Tour got here to a short-lived, tentative settlement to end pending litigation and probably be part of forces in 2023, Al-Rumayyan was a key determine in the negotiations.

A last-ditch effort to broker a merger between the rival leagues came about in the White House in February 2025 when President Trump hosted Al-Rumayyan, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods. No settlement was reached.

Now, apparently, PIF will attempt to flip its consideration to initiatives that don’t bleed billions. The fund has invested more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since it was launched in 2022 and is reportedly spending $100 million per month this yr.

The rich but all of a sudden unmoored LIV golfers have been left to scramble like a weekend hacker making an attempt to salvage a bogey after chipping into a sand entice.

LIV Golf Louisiana announced that the event scheduled for June 25-28 in New Orleans has been postponed. A new date hasn’t been set. However, an official told ESPN on Thursday that next week’s event at Trump National Golf Club outdoors Washington, D.C., will happen as deliberate.

Six other tournaments stay on the schedule that concludes with LIV group championships on Aug. 27-30 at the Cardinal at Saint John’s in Michigan. Tournaments outdoors the United States are scheduled for South Korea, Spain and Great Britain.

Hired Thursday to come up with a financial model to keep LIV afloat sans PIF are Gene Davis and Jon Zinman, described in a LIV assertion as “seasoned experts with proven track records of navigating complex situations and unlocking value for global organizations.”
 
LIV Golf’s contorted spin on acknowledging that PIF will no longer subsidize the league was a assertion saying it is going to focus on ”securing long-term financial companions to assist its transition from a foundational launch part to a diversified, multi-partner investment model.”

Davis, the newly appointed chairman of the LIV Independent Directors Committee, sees alternative in the face of a PIF-less future.

“LIV Golf has built something truly differentiated — a global league with passionate fans, world-class talent, and demonstrated commercial momentum,” he said in a assertion. “The executive leadership team, along with Jon and I, see a clear opportunity to help the league formalize its structure, attract and secure long-term capital, and position the business for growth while continuing to promote the game across the world.

“ We look forward to positioning LIV Golf for future success.”