{"id":559657,"date":"2026-05-01T00:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T00:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/559657\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T00:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T00:25:08","slug":"liv-golf-star-opens-up-on-his-future-after-pif-pulls-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/559657\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf star opens up on his future after PIF pulls funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a statement released on Thursday<\/a>, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund said the \u201csubstantial\u201d financial outlay required for LIV is \u201cno longer consistent with the current phase\u201d of their strategy.<\/p>\n

LIV has now announced a \u201cstrategic evolution\u201d which includes a newly appointed board led by advisors Gene Davis and Jon Zinman \u2013 both said to have \u201cproven track records of navigating complex situations\u201d. Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor who founded the league alongside former CEO Greg Norman, is set to exit the board, but his involvement went unmentioned on LIV\u2019s press release revealing their plans. <\/p>\n

PIF has bankrolled LIV to the tune of $5 billion since 2022 \u2013 putting up $30 million prize funds<\/a> at each of its events this season. Their decision to retreat at the end of 2026 has plunged the league\u2019s future into huge doubt, but several LIV executives have told TG that they remain \u201coptimistic\u201d they will be able to secure alternate investment to carry on in what they\u2019re calling a \u201cbrave new world\u201d.<\/p>\n

Still, the uncertainty over a fraught past couple of weeks has caused some players to seek out the DP World Tour as they consider their options for the 2027 season. But Puig, who is a dual-member across both tours, has faith that the league can continue beyond this season without PIF\u2019s billions.<\/p>\n

\u201c[The PIF withdrawal] is something that we know already,\u201d he told TG after his first round at the Turkish Airlines Open. \u201cIt is what it is. I love Scott.\u00a0He\u2019s a great guy.\u00a0He\u2019s pretty straightforward, and he mentioned that. All together, we\u2019re going to try and find a solution,\u00a0and hopefully that pays off and we find something.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I don\u2019t really know what he deals with every day.\u00a0I\u2019m sure he\u2019s got a lot of pressure [on] his shoulders\u00a0and a lot of stuff going on but with me he\u2019s been amazing.\u00a0We play Padel together. He\u2019s a great guy, and I really enjoy his time around him.\u00a0That\u2019s all I can say.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a meeting in Mexico, but\u00a0I know the same as you do right now. There\u2019s nothing more we know. I\u2019m just happy where I am and hopefully we can find a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked whether he believes LIV can find alternate investment, Puig replied: \u201cYeah, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 24-year-old skipped his senior season at Arizona State to join LIV in September 2022 and has won on the DP World and Asian Tours since turning professional as well as banking over $20 million in prize money. He is viewed by many as a European Ryder Cup player of the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been loving my time on LIV,\u201d Puig said.\u00a0\u201cSergio [Garcia] has been great and I\u2019m good friends with Jon [Rahm],\u00a0so I enjoy the tournaments.\u00a0So hopefully we find a solution.\u00a0It\u2019s definitely made me a better player. It\u2019s not up to me at all what happens,\u00a0but I I enjoy it and they\u2019re doing the right things,\u00a0and hopefully there\u2019s a solution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Puig is playing here at the glorious National Golf Club in Antalya after becoming one of eight players to sign a conditional release deal with the DP World Tour. In return for settling any outstanding fines and playing an additional number of stipulated events, the octet can play on the circuit without sanction. This is believed to be one of the stops earmarked for Puig to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just try and enjoy the present and right now I love it,\u201d he says.\u00a0\u201cIt gives me both opportunities,\u00a0and I try and play as good as I can in both tours,\u00a0and obviously we\u2019ll see what happens.\u00a0Again, it\u2019s not up to me,\u00a0but I have a great team around me,\u00a0and that\u2019s how I focus on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Puig is one of three talented young LIV players in the field at the $2.75million event<\/a>, alongside Tom McKibbin and Elvis Smylie. The news has dominated the chatter on the range, but Puig insists the LIV uncertainty has not been a distraction to his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis week is important for many reasons \u2013 world rankings and Race to Dubai \u2013 I\u2019m trying to focus on that more than the rest of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a statement released on Thursday, Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund said the \u201csubstantial\u201d financial outlay required for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":559658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-559657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=559657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/559658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}