{"id":293394,"date":"2026-04-30T16:47:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:47:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/293394\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T16:47:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T16:47:10","slug":"liv-golf-cuts-ties-with-saudi-pif-announces-plan-to-stay-afloat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/293394\/","title":{"rendered":"LIV Golf cuts ties with Saudi PIF, announces plan to stay afloat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Two weeks ago, LIV Golf did its best to conceal the fact that the Saudi Public Investment Fund would cease to bankroll the league after the current season, only to have LIV Chief Executive Officer Scott O\u2019Neil let the truth slip<\/a> during a television interview.<\/p>\n

This week, the intentions of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, or PIF, and consequences to LIV are known by all.<\/p>\n

LIV Golf announced Thursday that it has established a new independent board that will attempt to keep the league afloat utilizing a \u201cdiversified, multi-partner investment model.\u201d In other words, a model that doesn\u2019t include PIF.<\/p>\n

PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan will no longer serve as LIV Golf chairman, another unmistakable signal that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund worth an estimated $1 trillion is cutting ties with the financially troubled LIV.<\/p>\n

LIV Golf was supposed to be a key component in Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman\u2019s \u201cVision 2030\u201d plan to diversify the kingdom\u2019s economy away from oil. PIV lured megastar golfers Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Dustin Johnson and others away from the PGA Tour by shoveling hundreds of millions of dollars into their bank accounts.<\/p>\n

Al-Rumayyan, Prince Bin Salman\u2019s trusted technocrat, was charged with implementing the plan, but LIV Golf has failed to attract significant viewership or commercial sponsors despite innovations such as a 54-hole format and a team model.<\/p>\n

When LIV and the PGA Tour came to a short-lived, tentative agreement to end pending litigation and potentially join forces in 2023, Al-Rumayyan was a key figure in the negotiations. <\/p>\n

A last-ditch effort to broker a merger between the rival leagues took place in the White House in February 2025 when President Trump hosted Al-Rumayyan, PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and Tiger Woods. No agreement was reached.<\/p>\n

Now, apparently, PIF will attempt to turn its attention to initiatives that don\u2019t bleed billions. The fund has invested more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since it was launched in 2022 and is reportedly spending $100 million per month this year.<\/p>\n

The wealthy but suddenly unmoored LIV golfers have been left to scramble like a weekend hacker trying to salvage a bogey after chipping into a sand trap. <\/p>\n

LIV Golf Louisiana announced that the tournament scheduled for June 25-28 in New Orleans has been postponed. A new date hasn\u2019t been set. However, an official told ESPN on Thursday that next week\u2019s tournament at Trump National Golf Club outside Washington, D.C., will take place as planned.<\/p>\n

Six other tournaments remain on the schedule that concludes with LIV team championships on Aug. 27-30 at the Cardinal at Saint John\u2019s in Michigan. Tournaments outside the United States are scheduled for South Korea, Spain and Great Britain. <\/p>\n

Hired Thursday to come up with a financial model to keep LIV afloat sans PIF are Gene Davis and Jon Zinman, described in a LIV statement<\/a> as \u201cseasoned experts with proven track records of navigating complex situations and unlocking value for global organizations.\u201d
\u202f
LIV Golf\u2019s contorted spin on acknowledging that PIF will no longer subsidize the league was a statement saying it will focus on\u202f\u201dsecuring long-term financial partners to support its transition\u202ffrom a foundational launch phase to a diversified, multi-partner investment model.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis, the newly appointed chairman of the LIV Independent Directors Committee, sees opportunity in the face of a PIF-less future.<\/p>\n

\u201cLIV Golf has built something truly differentiated \u2014 a global\u202fleague\u202fwith passionate fans, world-class talent, and demonstrated commercial momentum,\u201d he said in a statement.\u202f\u201cThe executive leadership team,\u202falong with Jon and I,\u202fsee a clear opportunity\u202fto help the league\u202fformalize its structure,\u202fattract\u202fand secure long-term\u202fcapital,\u202fand position the business for\u202fgrowth\u202fwhile continuing to\u202fpromote\u202fthe\u202fgame across the world.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u202fWe look forward to\u202fpositioning\u202fLIV Golf for future\u202fsuccess.\u201d\u202f<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two weeks ago, LIV Golf did its best to conceal the fact that the Saudi Public Investment Fund…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293395,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[124925,124926,124927,48,52,51,10572,32520,47,50,49,1594,70394,1410,3230,124924,124928,2429,16907,12967,430],"class_list":["post-293394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-al-rumayyan","tag-gene-davis","tag-jon-rahm","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-league","tag-liv-golf","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-other","tag-pga-tour","tag-place","tag-plan","tag-saudi-pif","tag-saudi-public-investment-fund","tag-thursday","tag-tie","tag-tournament","tag-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293394","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293394"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293394\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293394"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293394"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293394"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}