LIV golfers worried about the breakaway league’s future have reportedly held talks with the DP World Tour about their next steps following the postponement of LIV’s New Orleans event.

Today’s Golfer’s Ben Parsons reported that the LIV players have sought the opportunity to play in Europe next year if LIV shuts down at the end of the season.

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The league released a statement on Wednesday morning Australian time confirming the postponement of their maiden New Orleans event, which was due to be played from June 25-28, to an unconfirmed date in September or October.

It came after news broke a day prior that the state of Louisiana were concerned by LIV’s uncertain financial future with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund set to cut off their funding.

“There is a feeling of panic,” an insider told The Telegraph . “This New Orleans news has clearly put the frighteners on the players and staff.”

The league’s justification for the change, however, has been to avoid the notorious hot New Orleans summer as well as a clash with the FIFA World Cup, which is being played in North America in June and July.

“We have made the strategic decision to explore moving LIV Golf Louisiana to a new window,” LIV Golf’s statement said.

“This shift allows us to avoid the peak summer heat and the crowded global sports calendar while ensuring the course is in the championship condition our fans and players expect.

“We are grateful for the continued partnership and flexibility of the state of Louisiana as we work together to deliver a world-class debut this fall. Our team is focused on maintaining the strong momentum of the 2026 season and we look forward to sharing finalised dates in the near future.”

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The announcement stands in direct contradiction to LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil’s comments in Mexico City earlier this month that the league goes ahead “full throttle” despite the reports of its impending demise.

And LIV’s statement has been widely ridiculed.

“Neither of these factors should come as a surprise to LIV,” The Telegraph’s golf correspondent James Corrigan wrote.

“The heat on the Louisiana Gulf Coast at that time of year has long been notorious and the World Cup was awarded to the US, Canada and Mexico eight years ago.”

The postponement has also forced LIV to repay some of the money it was paid by the state of Louisiana to come to Bayou Oaks At City Park, a public facility with two courses and a driving range in the heart of New Orleans.

“The state has already paid $3.2 million in accordance with the contract. LIV is expected to return all state incentive funds, with the exception of the $2m already invested in upgrades [to the golf course], ensuring those improvements remain in place for the community,” governor of Louisiana Jeff Landry said.

“We appreciate LIV’s good-faith efforts and look forward to maintaining our partnership as we continue conversations around an event later this year.”

In an eyebrow raising move, Landry began his statement by acknowledging the PGA Tour, who staged the Zurich Classic in New Orleans last week where world No.3 Matt Fitzpatrick helped his younger brother Alex win a two-year tour card.

“First, we want to thank Zurich and PGA TOUR leadership for another outstanding tournament this past weekend. We are proud of the continued partnership and the opportunities this event brings to our state each year,” Landry said.

LIV’s Players are also concerned by the seven week gap created in their schedule by the postponement.

That means there are no LIV events between the US Open and The Open.

It is why the players have turned to the DP World Tour, who cut a deal with many LIV stars to keep their membership if they play a minimum number of events in Europe.

Those players, which includes the likes of Australian young gun Elvis Smylie and Ryder Cup star Tyrell Hatton, will be able to play in the Italian Open, the BMW International in Germany and the Scottish Open in the weeks leading up to The Open at Royal Birkdale.

Elvis Smylie of Ripper GC poses for a photo with the trophy after winning LIV Golf Riyadh.Source: Getty Images

Those opportunities and LIV’s problems may prompt a change of heart from former world No.1 Jon Rahm.

The Spaniard has been in a tense battle with the DP World Tour as he could not come to terms with paying fines and playing a minimum of six events – determined by the tour.

DP World Tour chief executive Guy Kinnings was asked by Today’s Golfer for his thoughts on the potential implications of LIV’s plight ahead of this week’s Turkish Airlines Open and shared that he too is in the dark about LIV’s future.

“We’re reading the headlines and observing,” Kinnings said. “We’ve got members and dual members [of the DPWT and LIV) and we listen to them. Those kind of headlines that we’ve seen in the last few weeks have got to be concerning for them. But all we do is control what we can control, make sure our product is as good as it can be. I don’t think it can be easy with all of that sort of going on.

“But at the moment, our focus is just on us doing what we can do. We listen to players, listen to their representatives all the time and go from there.”

Jon Rahm of Legion XIII looks on from 18th green during day four of LIV Golf Mexico City.Source: Getty Images

Kinnings added: “At the moment, we’re in the mode of just listening because we don’t know any more than anyone else does.

“But we’ll listen and we’ll make sure that we’re fully informed before we make the decisions that we need to do. But for sure, there are people who are concerned and we will be having conversations with them at the right time.

“We’ll make sure we’re informed. But we’ve already shown that if people work within the rules – my only job is to make sure we benefit the tour as a whole, every member, all the loyal members have stuck with it. We worked out what is something that worked well on those conditional releases.

“Players coming and supporting at events where it improves the quality of the event and helps the tour as a whole. So we will wait and see how things evolve, but we’re obviously listening and we’re listening to players and agents and others who have questions about what the future may hold and we’ll handle it as we go forward. But for sure, I think there’s opportunity for us to continue to grow the strength of the tour, which is my only job really.”