Updated April 16, 2026, 5:05 p.m. ET
Rumors circulated on Wednesday about the potential shutdown of the five-year-old LIV Golf league.LIV Golf officials refuted the rumors, stating the season will continue as planned.The league is currently in Mexico City for the sixth event of its 2026 season.Reports indicate Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has invested over $5 billion into LIV Golf.
The five-year-old LIV Golf league has been on a wild ride since launch. The red-hot rumor mill stoked some fires of its reported demise all day Wednesday but for now, at least, the circuit continues operations.
After a full day of speculation, innuendo and opinion (asked for or not), LIV Golf posted a message on social media on Wednesday with the question: “Slow news day?” and then the phrase: “We are ON.”
LIV telecast hit by technical issues early in Thursday’s round
UPDATE: As of 5:04 p.m. ET, the LIV Golf feed from Mexico City was still down, although at one point switched from an on-screen message about technical issues to color bars for a couple of minutes, then a different technical difficulties screen appeared with Scottish bagpipes playing.
The Mexico City event was being streamed on the Fox Sports app as well as LIV’s youtube channel but about 20 or so minutes in, the feed was lost and a message came on the screen saying: “Please stand by. Technical issues.” A live camera shot did come on the screen for a few minutes but then the telecast when back to the full-screen error message.
Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more! From Eamon Lynch: Proving even Saudis have a spending limit, LIV runs out of time, cash, luck
The Financial Times, Wall Street Journal and New York Times all cited sources saying the league’s owner, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund, was on the verge of pulling the plug. LIV Golf’s CEO, Scott O’Neil, didn’t immediately and forcefully deny the reports. Nor did he reassure employees, stakeholders and vendors about the future. He didn’t because he couldn’t, and he couldn’t because he didn’t know. And that’s the most damaging conclusion to be drawn from the entire fiasco: LIV’s boss is not familiar with the thinking of its backers at the PIF, and his business is not aligned with PIF’s future plans.
Read the entire column here.
Joaquin Niemann, who started on No. 4, opens with an ace
It’s a hole-in-one for Niemann, who started on a par 3 in the shotgun start.
The telecast started just after 3 p.m. ET and after opening with some details on the format. Then LIV’s announcers got into the rumors.
Play-by-play announcer Arlo White said: “We’re delighted to report that the reports of the imminent demise of the LIV Golf league were, in fact, greatly exaggerated.”
Then LIV’s David Feherty chimed in with a blast at certain corners of the media ecosystem: “I’ve been in the professional game for 50 years now and I don’t think I’ve ever had two or three days where there was more absolute nonsense spread out. There are still some writers and broadcasters that take pride in their work, but this generation has spawned fast typists that consider themselves to be experts, and evidently they’re not.”
LIV Golf Mexico City set to start at 3:15 p.m. ET on Thursday
The first round of the LIV event at Club de Golf Chapultepec is set for a 3:15 p.m. ET (1:15 p.m. local time) start. LIV uses a shotgun start so all golfers will be on the course then. Thursday’s first round can be seen on the Fox Sports app at 3 p.m. ET and then on TV on FS1 at 6 p.m. ET.
LIV, PIF reportedly facing lawsuit from another golf entity Mexico City event to start in 2 hours
LIV Golf has a live countdown clock on its website and at 1:45 p.m. ET, it shows there’s 2 hours till go time in Mexico City.
LIV’s Ian Poulter tweets about event, not the rumors
A little more than three hours before it’s set to start, Poulter posted a message on social media from Mexico City about the golf course but nothing about any of the rumor-mill chatter.
Alan Shipnuck says LIV’s days appear to be numbered
Shipnuck wrote a book about the LIV Golf circuit a couple years back. He join the Rich Eisen Show on Thursday to discuss the latest.
Who are the highest-ranked LIV golfers in the latest OWGR?
When people think of LIV Golf, they probably think of Bryson DeChambeau first. Or maybe Jon Rahm comes to mind. They each have a major championship (won before they left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf) and they’ve been household names in the world of golf for several years. But neither one is the highest-ranked golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking.
What’s next for Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau?
A lot of golfers appear to be in limbo as the LIV Golf rumors swirl, namely the big stars Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. Will every LIV golfer wind up back on the PGA Tour? The process won’t be straightforward, and not simply because PGA Tour officials and existing Tour golfers don’t necessarily want them to return. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed are already taking two different pathways after leaving LIV Golf in favor of a PGA Tour comeback, and they’re not the only ones to switch back to the PGA Tour from LIV Golf this year.
PIF is making other moves in the sports world LIV Golf’s remaining 9 events are fully funded. What’s left?
LIV Golf’s 2026 season will proceed as scheduled with the full backing of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, sources close to the matter told Reuters, pushing back against reports that the rebel circuit was on the verge of collapse.
The sources, who have knowledge of the PIF’s investment and LIV operations, said funding would continue and the remaining nine tournaments of the 14-event schedule would go ahead as planned.
— Reuters
LIV Golf is ‘hanging by a thread’ after losing billions
A wild day, even by LIV standards, had Saudi Arabia pulling the plug on the league and proving even a Public Investment Fund worth $1.15 trillion — yes, with a ‘T’ — has a limit when it comes to throwing money at a product without a return on investment. And that commitment has surpassed $5.3 billion since Greg Norman‘s baby was born in 2022.
― Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post
Report: LIV CEO says ‘season continues exactly as planned’
Wednesday night, ESPN’s Jeff Darlington reported on an email sent by LIV CEO O’Neil that include the phrase:
I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned.
The full email was obtained by FOS with the subject line from O’Neil: “Our Mission Continues: Mexico City and the Path Ahead.”
What’s going on with LIV Golf?
There’s many answers to that question but first and foremost, LIV is in Mexico City this week, hosting rthe sixth event on its 14-event schedule in 2026. The first round of the four-round, 72-hole stroke play competition is Thursday at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City.
The bigger-picture question about LIV is its future. There was a report that LIV officials were summoned to an emergency meeting in New York, according to a report in The Telegraph, amid speculation fueled by social media from the night before that the league could be on the verge of shutting down operations.
But, Gabby Herzig of The Athletic reported that her publication visited the LIV offices in New York and were told CEO Scott O’Neil and his team were in Mexico City.
LIV Golf generally does two days of pre-event news conferences with select players. The Tuesday session never happened and the story is that there were technical difficulties. On Wednesday, Sergio Garcia and his Fireballs teammates sat down and took some questions and he took the one and only one about the rumors of the league’s demise, saying he’s heard nothing.
Five other LIV golfers did media and none of them were asked if they knew anything or heard anything.
PGA Tour players answer questions about these LIV Golf rumors
In Hilton Head, South, Carolina, nine PGA Tour players were asked for a story on Golfweek. Keith Mitchell is a player director on the PGA Tour and a member of the Tour’s Future Competitions Committee. He was an obvious target to ask about LIV players returning but he opted to answer diplomatically.
“That’s a good question. Actually, it’s a great question,” he said. “I think a lot of players have pretty strong opinions about it. I think you’ll have to ask them. I represent them, not me.”
― Adam Schupak, Golfweek
We have a new report to add to the growing pile of them over LIV Golf potentially shutting down: With a reported “emergency” meeting for LIV execs in New York City, there’s also more from a new article by the Financial Times.
“Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund is on the verge of cutting its support for LIV Golf,” it reads. “An announcement on the future of the kingdom’s involvement in LIV, which has racked up huge losses since being set up five years ago, could come as soon as Thursday.”
― Charles Curtis, For The Win
Did you know LIV funding surpassed $5 billion (with a B)?
As of early 2026, the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s total investment in LIV Golf had reached $5.3 billion, following a $266.6 million capital injection approved by Governor Yasir Al Rumayyan on Feb. 1.
In 2024 and 2025, net spending by LIV Golf averaged $100 million per month. Based on that monthly burn rate, PIF can expect to invest $1.2 billion, bringing its cumulative investment in LIV Golf to in excess of $6 billion by the end of this year.
― Adam Schupak, Golfweek