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LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil confirmed reports that the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund will stop giving money to the golf league after this season.
But O’Neil told TNT Sports he has a “plan” that “might surprise some people.”
“The reality is you’re funded through the season and then you work like crazy as a company to create a business and a business plan to keep us going. But it’s no different than any other private equity-funded business in human history,” O’Neil said ahead of the golf tour’s next event in Mexico City on Thursday.
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Scott O’Neil attends a press conference in Johannesburg to announce the return of LIV Golf in 2027 on 22 March 2026. (Johan Rynners/Getty Images)
Despite the uncertainty, O’Neil takes the challenge head on.
“How we move forward is what I’m really excited about. I talked about some structural changes – they’re coming. You can just ask the 50 people I met at Augusta, I rolled out the plan. We have one, it might surprise some people…” he said.
“This notion of, ‘are you going to raise money?’ Probably. This is business. But if we keep the course running as we are and the revenue growth continues, this will be a very good business for a very long time.”
Sources told Pakinomist that the Saudis will stop funding LIV after the 2026 season. The Financial Times was the first to report the news.
O’Neil wrote a memo to LIV staff obtained by Pakinomist Digital confirming that the season would proceed “exactly as planned, uninterrupted and full throttle.”
Scott O’Neil during day four of LIV Golf South Africa at The Club at Steyn City in Johannesburg on 22 March 2026. (Johan Rynners/Getty Images)
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“While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are moving into the heart of our 2026 program with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder and more influential than ever before,” O’Neil wrote.
“The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We’ve faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve responded each time with resilience and grace. Now we’re responding by doing what we do best: delivering the most compelling show in sports.”
“The noise you hear is simply the sound of a movement working. Embrace it. We are pioneers, and even if the road is not always smooth, the destination is worth every kilometer,” he said. “Let’s go out there and show the world why LIV Golf is the future of the game. It matters. You mattered. Now let’s win.
“Long Live Golf.”
LIV started in 2022 and has produced two major winners in Brooks Koepka, who has since rejoined the PGA Tour. 2023 PGA Championship, and DeChambeau at the 2024 US Open.
(L-R) Former US President Donald Trump, His Excellency Yasir Al Rumayyan, Greg Norman, CEO and Commissioner of LIV Golf, and Majed Al Sorour, CEO of the Saudi Golf Federation, are seen on stage during day three of the LIV Golf Invitational – Bedminster at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster on July 31, 2022, in Bedminster, New Jersey. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf)
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LIV Golf switched from its 54-hole format, a draw for golfers who defected from the PGA Tour, to 72 at the beginning of this season. Patrick Reed is too set to join the PGA Tour again.
