BEDMINSTER, N.J. \u2014 Amid the ongoing uncertainty of the future of LIV Golf, league members met in a players-only setting at Trump National Bedminster on Tuesday, with Bryson DeChambeau leading discussions.<\/p>\n
The extended player-exclusive talks followed a meeting that included CEO Scott O\u2019Neil, the LIV Golf executive suite and the league\u2019s team captains. Players exited the building with little willingness to offer details on the update they had received. Several players declined to comment on the session, but some, including Richard Bland, pointed to DeChambeau\u2019s role in the meeting and cited a lack of definitive updates.<\/p>\n
\u201cBryson just ran through what he knows, and obviously, we\u2019re trying to do it as a group, but we\u2019re individuals as well, so I think the next two to three weeks is going to be where it\u2019s at,\u201d Bland said. \u201cWe\u2019re in this together; we\u2019re fully backing Scott. I think probably in the next two to three weeks we\u2019ll have a bigger picture.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just in that kind of stage at the minute that we\u2019re positive with what\u2019s going on, but we just need everything to be fully signed off so you can go forward,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
The uncertainty Bland shared includes the prospect of LIV reportedly canceling its Team Championship, scheduled for Aug. 27-30 at The Cardinal in Plymouth, Mich. According to sources directly familiar with discussions, an official decision and announcement on whether that event will be played will not be made this week. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The Athletic visited The Cardinal last week, and the build-out for the event \u2014 including grandstands and other infrastructure \u2014 had not yet begun, which would be highly unusual for a golf tournament less than a month out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d Bland said when asked about updates on the Team Championship\u2019s fate. \u201cYou know, we\u2019ve just got to wait and see on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Can LIV Golf survive without PIF funding? Experts weigh in<\/p>\n
Gabby Herzig and Lauren Morales-Jones<\/p>\n
The LIV Team Championship features a $40 million purse. Not staging it would represent substantial cost savings to LIV\u2019s bottom line as it seeks new investment, but it would also be a significant black eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been told to prepare as though it\u2019s going ahead. So we\u2019re expecting it to happen. I\u2019m really unsure, but we had a great year there last year in Detroit, and we\u2019re hoping we get back there,\u201d Cameron Smith said in a news conference earlier Tuesday.<\/p>\n
DeChambeau breezed by reporters waiting outside the player locker room after the meetings, choosing not to comment. O\u2019Neil also declined to comment to The Athletic.<\/p>\n
When asked about DeChambeau\u2019s message to players in the session, Lee Westwood said: \u201cNo, I\u2019m not talking about it. Blandy shouldn\u2019t be either.\u201d Byeong Hun An also acknowledged DeChambeau\u2019s role in the player talks and said, \u201cWe know as much as everyone knows,\u201d concerning the status of the Michigan Team Championship.<\/p>\n
In April, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) pulled its future funding for the upstart league, throwing LIV staffers and players into a period of flux. To keep the league afloat, O\u2019Neil has been pitching a \u201cLIV 2.0\u201d to private investors, with a new, streamlined business model.<\/p>\n
But those efforts have not stopped the league from encountering hurdles, even amid its ongoing season. In April, O\u2019Neil told the UK\u2019s TNT Sports that the PIF would fund the league through the end of the season, and he assured employees the season would continue \u201cexactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, however, LIV Golf postponed its New Orleans tournament with no rescheduled date announced. Mobii, which powered LIV\u2019s \u201cAny Shot, Any Time\u201d streaming feature, is seeking damages after LIV abruptly pulled the contract midseason. And the Asian Tour announced last month that it\u2019ll partner with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. LIV had previously worked with the Asian Tour to provide playing opportunities for its players and meet requirements to receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.<\/p>\n
LIV Golf Indianapolis is still set to be played from Aug. 20 to 23 at The Club at Chatham Hills.<\/p>\n
The league has faced deep uncertainty for its future since losing the PIF\u2019s support, a move that also saw PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan step down from the league\u2019s board of directors. In response, LIV brought in an independent board, with two new members, Gene Davis and Jon Zinman. Davis is the CEO of a consulting firm specializing in turnaround management, with past and current clients that include Spirit Airlines and Weight Watchers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BEDMINSTER, N.J. \u2014 Amid the ongoing uncertainty of the future of LIV Golf, league members met in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802954,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-802953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802953\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}