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LIV Golf has insisted the tour intends to continue “uninterrupted and at full throttle” this season amid claims its Saudi Arabian backers will imminently withdraw having funded the breakaway league to the tune of $5bn (£3.68bn).
The future of the rebel tour was mired in confusion on Wednesday following an executive meeting in New York and publication of a new Saudi investment strategy that did not mention sport and emphasised sustainability.
As speculation grew, and with golfers and staff seemingly in the dark, LIV’s chief executive, Scott O’Neil, sent an email to staff, reaffirming the league’s position – at least for 2026.
“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neil said in a hyperbolic rallying email, which the Guardian has seen.
“While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before. Let’s go out and show the world why LIV golf is the future of the game.”
LIV’s Mexico City event is taking place over the coming days at Club de Golf Chapultepec, the fifth event of the season. Speaking at a press conference before the event, Sergio García said: “Honestly, we haven’t heard anything other than what Yasir [al-Rumayyan, LIV Golf chairman] told us at the beginning of the year.
“That he’s behind us, that they have a long-term project. And well, honestly, you know how these rumours are. There are always a lot of them. And I can’t tell you anything more than what we already know.”
PIF has spent over $5bn on LIV since its 2021 launch having lured some of the biggest names in the golf including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, García and Bryson DeChambeau. However, the five-time major winner Brooks Koepka – who bought out part of his LIV contract, and the former Masters champion Patrick Reed returned to the PGA Tour this year, while DeChambeau has refused to sign a new deal.
LIV’s emergence sparked a fierce divide in the game with the PGA and DP World Tour imposing sanctions on players who defected and no sign of the proposed merger following protracted talks to unify the game.
The former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley says the PGA Tour could now play “hardball” over the possibility of players that defected to LIV returning to their former home. “They got paid a huge amount of money to take a massive risk to leave behind the safety net, if you want to call it, of the tours behind them,” McGinley told Sky Sports. “The tours are members organisations, so not alone were they going to LIV and getting paid a lot of money but they were harming the model that they left behind.
“At the time they all justified it as a tough business decision, and they made that decision looking out for themselves. So now, if this is the case, the roles will be reversed, and the [PGA] Tour can play really hardball back against them to say: ‘Sorry guys, your spots have been filled, and we’re going to play hardball in return’.”
