Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has confirmed it will stop financing the breakaway LIV Golf tour at the end of the 2026 season, citing a shift in investment priorities and “current macro dynamics” tied to regional instability.
PIF launched LIV in 2022 as a direct competitor to the PGA Tour, committing more than $5 billion to build the circuit and luring several high-profile players, including major champions Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. The funding helped create a major split in professional golf.
In its announcement, PIF said it will continue to support LIV only through the remainder of 2026. LIV officials said the tour is moving “from a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model,” and has begun a formal process to seek long-term financial partners.
Questions about the tour’s future emerged earlier when ESPN published an internal email from LIV CEO Scott O’Neil saying the season would proceed “exactly as planned” but without any promise of support beyond 2026. The postponement of a planned June event in New Orleans, which has not been rescheduled, also fueled concerns about financial stability.
PIF said the level of ongoing investment LIV requires no longer fits its current phase, strategic priorities and macroeconomic outlook. The fund has signaled a pullback from some overseas sports investments amid an economic slowdown and regional tensions.
PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan recently outlined a strategy to cut back on international investments and focus more on domestic projects between 2026 and 2030, noting that the fund regularly reviews its commitments. Recent examples of reduced sports spending include the sudden cancellation of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters after two editions and the sale of a 70% stake in Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal.
Larger national projects have also been scaled back. Plans for the $500 billion Neom development and its linear city The Line have been curtailed, with expectations of far less construction and fewer residents by 2030 than first proposed. Neom additionally lost the 2029 Asian Winter Games, which were reassigned to Almaty, Kazakhstan.
With PIF withdrawing long-term backing, LIV must attract new investors to sustain the tour. There are reports that some LIV players have explored returning to the PGA Tour or the European DP World Tour, but any moves could be complicated by players’ involvement in PIF- and LIV-backed antitrust litigation against the PGA Tour.