LIV has new chairman and seeks new funding

Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund officially pulled the plug on future funding for LIV Golf on Thursday, leaving the rival league to find a new path without the largesse that helped it launch four years ago as a threat to the golf establishment. Staff and players have been aware for the last two weeks the Public Investment Fund was only going to support LIV Golf through the end of this year. LIV responded with a new board and a plan to diversify into an investment model with hopes of finding long-term partners. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor who was behind the creation of LIV Golf, is no longer listed as chairman of LIV Golf amid reports he has resigned from that role. "PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season," PIF said in a statement. "The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF's investment strategy." The newsletter "Money in Sports" reported earlier this year LIV Golf has spent $5.3 billion since it began in 2022, a figure likely to exceed $6 billion by the end of the year. LIV Golf spent about $1 billion in luring top names away from the PGA Tour when it launched — Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka and Dustin Johnson, among them. Prize money was increased this year to $30 million at each event. PIF two weeks ago revealed a new five-year investment strategy geared toward "sustained value creation, with a strengthened focus on maximizing impact, raising the efficiency of investments, and applying the highest standards of governance, transparency and institutional excellence." LIV Golf, which announced this week it has postponed its Louisiana tournament from late June until the fall, is scheduled to play May 7-10 in northern Virginia. The new LIV Golf board Gene Davis of Pirinate Consulting Group and Jon Zinman of the strategic advisory firm JZ Advisors are leading a newly created board, with Davis as chairman. The focus is on securing long-term financial partners. LIV Golf has said it expects 10 of its 13 teams to be profitable this year, and it has five title sponsors of tournaments this year after not having any the previous three years. "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," Davis said in a statement. "We look forward to positioning LIV Golf for future success." Scott O'Neil, the CEO at LIV Golf, had told Britain-based TNT two weeks ago during the Mexico event: "The reality is that you're funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going." That raised questions whether LIV Golf could keep some of its top players once their lucrative contracts expired. Future of LIV Golf players Koepka left LIV after last season and the PGA Tour granted him a path back with stipulations that included no access to equity grants for five years, a $5 million charity donation and no bonus money this year. The tour offered it to three other LIV players who had won majors since 2022 — Rahm, DeChambeau and Cameron Smith — and gave them a Feb. 4 deadline to accept. None did. In an interview earlier this week with The Wall Street Journal, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said: "We're interested in having the best players who can help our tour. Not every player can do that." Patrick Reed, a former Masters champion and three-time Ryder Cup player, chose not to renew his LIV contract and is playing a European tour schedule. He is all but certain to finish on a points list that will get him PGA Tour membership. Unclear is the path back for anyone else from LIV Golf who would want to return. DeChambeau and Rahm — both multiple major champions — are considered LIV's top two players. DeChambeau said in an interview with the Flushing It social media site last week that "as long as LIV is here, I would figure out a way for it to make sense." "There's a lot of moving parts like in any business," DeChambeau said. "It's a startup, right? And so there's going to be times where we're squeezed and punched. This is one of those moments. But I'm going to do everything in my power to make it work and I really see the value in franchise golf." The loss of Al-Rumayyan from LIV Golf Al-Rumayyan leaving his post as LIV Golf chairman costs the players their biggest ally. Many referred to him simply as "H.E." (His Excellency). He is passionate about golf and long wanted a seat at the table with the sport's leadership. Al-Rumayyan signed a framework agreement in June 2023 intended to unify the commercial assets of golf. Under the agreement with the PGA Tour and European tour, he was set to join the PGA Tour Enterprises board if it was approved. The deal never materialized, except for ending antitrust lawsuits. PGA Tour Enterprises instead got a minority investment from a consortium of North American sports owners. Al-Rumayyan was at the White House in February 2025 to meet with President Donald Trump along with a PGA Tour team that included Tiger Woods, Adam Scott and Commissioner Jay Monahan. But it was clear LIV and the PGA Tour could not find common ground, mainly because the Saudi league wanted to stick with a team component. Al-Rumayyan was all about team golf when he and former CEO Greg Norman launched the league, even though the team concept was one reason it took more than three years for LIV to get recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking. ___ AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf