Follow us on Google Discover There are no guarantees that LIV Golf will still exist once the 2027 season gets going, with the league still fighting to secure fresh investment.
It has been, by far, the most turbulent season in LIV Golf’s history this year. The league has struggled to regain stability at any stage following the decision from Brooks Koepka to try and return to the PGA Tour at the end of 2025.
Rumours kicked into overdrive during The Masters that the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia were set to walk away and leave the league to fend for themselves.
What was the biggest error LIV Golf ever made?
The league’s future remains uncertain with still no guarantees it will continue into 2027
The event in New Orleans has been postponed, while there are still doubts about whether the Team Championship will take place.
Meanwhile, several players have privately expressed their plans to walk away from LIV at the end of the season whether the league secures fresh funding or not.
So where did it all go wrong for LIV Golf? Here is a look at five mistakes that arguably left the league on the ropes.
Upsetting the PGA Tour by signing a number of their players before the first event in 2022
LIV certainly did not fail in its bid to turn the golfing world upside down ahead of its opening event in 2022.
The likes of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson were in the field at Centurion four years ago, while Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka made the jump shortly after.
The decision to upset the apple cart and go after so many high-profile names put the PGA Tour on the defensive straight away. Suspensions were handed out almost immediately.
Had LIV instead focused on younger players such as Eugenio Chacarra and David Puig, and raised the profile of the field with a number of veterans largely from the DP World Tour, they may have had more time to build something before the PGA Tour sensed any real threat.
They also should have hidden Greg Norman from view as often as they could.
Not meeting the requirements for world ranking points straight away
While the world rankings have never been universally popular, they do play an important role when it comes to who gets into the more prestigious events, such as the majors.
LIV Golf failed to secure world ranking points until the eve of the 2026 season. That was due to a number of factors, including all of their events including 54 players, those events being played over 54 holes, and those events including no cut. It also appeared to be too much of a closed shop for some time.
It was a greater gamble for players to jump across from the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour knowing that their world ranking was going to plummet unless they could do something special in the majors.
Not enforcing relegation properly until the end of the 2025 season
It is difficult to overstate the hit LIV’s credibility took when it was announced that Branden Grace was keeping his place for the 2025 season.
Previously, those relegated from LIV could avoid losing their spot if they were a team captain and could make a successful ‘business case’ to the league – whatever that means.
But it became farcical after the 2024 season when Bubba Watson and Grace held onto their spots despite being relegated.
Watson was a captain, at least. But the South African was not the skipper of the Stinger team. With that, he had to go through the Promotions Event to try and earn his place back.
Grace did not quite do enough. Nevertheless, he was still announced as Stinger’s final member ahead of 2025. And to make matters worse, Louis Oosthuizen claimed to Golf Monthly that Grace was the only player the team considered for the spot.
It was no surprise that LIV changed their rules to ensure that relegation was properly enforced the following year.
By that stage however, the idea had already become too much of a laughing stock in the eyes of many.
If only they had realised that their best storyline would come from Anthony Kim being relegated, genuinely earning his place back, and then winning in Adelaide within a few months.
A lack of consistency in building team identities
Some teams on LIV are easier to cheer for than others. Ripper are the team of Australia, while Southern Guards received a hero’s reception in South Africa earlier this year. Similarly, Majesticks almost feel like the host of the United Kingdom event.
The problem is that not every team has a clear identity. Few are going to talk about the Cleeks in the years after LIV has disappeared.
Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images
LIV arguably made a mistake not going all the way when it came to leaning into nationalities when putting their teams together.
You can see that some fans are starting to buy into following some of the teams. But your only reason to support Crushers is because of Bryson DeChambeau, while it is a similar story with RangeGoats and Bubba Watson.
Given how important the team format was to LIV, the failure to maximise its potential is unforgivable.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan walking away from White House talks
There is an argument that February 2025 has usurped June 2023 as the biggest month in LIV Golf’s history now that the league is fighting for its future.
Of course, the framework agreement more than three years ago threatened to completely change the game, with Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan announcing an intention to bring the game back together.
At no stage has a deal looked closer than in February 2025 when all sides met at the White House, with President Donald Trump clearly determined to be the man to end the game’s civil war.
Tiger Woods said a merger was close. It seemed to be a matter of time before players were even moving between the two tours much more frequently.
However, the sticking point, it was claimed, was Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s insistence that team golf remains an important part of his plans.
That decision is arguably the biggest mistake in LIV Golf history.
Had LIV and the PGA Tour reached a full agreement, it may not have been great news for LIV as we currently know it, but it would have surely given them much more stability than they now have.
They would almost certainly give a lot to be in a similar position right now.
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