PGA Tour has made its final decision on letting LIV players back after Saudi PIF stopped funding.
LIV Golf is getting ready to tell its players and staff some big news: Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the main backer, will stop funding the league after the 2026 season. The Wall Street Journal says this announcement will come on Thursday, finally clearing up all the rumors about Saudi Arabia’s future role. About a month ago, when the PIF shared its five-year plan, there was no mention of LIV Golf, which hinted that they were planning to step back from sports investments.
It looks like that’s true, and it could mean the end for LIV Golf unless they find new investors. But any new funding probably won’t be as big as what the PIF provided. Players who left the PGA Tour to join LIV for the big prize money will now need to think about what’s next for them.
Stars like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm might be thinking about going back to the PGA Tour, but it won’t be as easy as just returning. They can look at what happened to Brooks Koepka, who rejoined the PGA Tour earlier this year after leaving LIV. Koepka, a five-time major winner, had to go through a special program to come back, which could cost him up to $90 million in donations, lost bonuses, and equity.
Even though that sounds like a tough price, Koepka accepted it to return, and other top players might be thinking about the same. But that option was only open for a short time earlier this year, and it’s unlikely the PGA Tour will offer anything similar again, especially to big-name players.
PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said on Wednesday, “There were rules, and they were broken. With rules comes accountability.” It seems the Tour will decide on each returning player individually, and not everyone who left for LIV will get a chance to come back—especially those without strong records. The Tour has already limited returns to recent major winners.
SPORTbible has reached out to LIV Golf for more comments.