LIV Golf appears to be teetering on the edge, with funding from PIF set to be cut from the end of the current season.
It was back in 2022 when LIV Golf emerged as, what they believed would be, a genuine competitor to the PGA Tour.
Advertisement
They managed to tempt numerous big-name players into jumping ship from the PGA Tour with extortionate signing-on fees.
However, things simply haven’t worked out for LIV Golf. The exits of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed earlier this year weakened them considerably, while the PGA Tour continues to go from strength to strength.
Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
On Wednesday, rumors started that the LIV Golf league was about to fold.
There has been pretty much radio silence from leading LIV Golf figures in the wake of those rumors.
However, The Financial Times report that Saudi Arabia’s PIF are on the verge of cutting their support for LIV Golf.
Advertisement
What one LIV Golf player just told Rich Lerner about disastrous situation
The future of LIV Golf, and its players of course, is completely up in the air right now.
Nobody really knows what is going on and the truth of the matter is that, until PIF release an official statement, the uncertainty surrounding the league will continue to grow.
The players are clearly just as much in the dark as we all are about the current mess.
When speaking on The Golf Channel, Rich Lerner revealed what one player just told him about the farcical situation.
Photo by Joseph Weiser/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“One LIV player communicated with me, just in the last 20 minutes, describing the situation as a ‘mess’,“ Lerner revealed.
Advertisement
Damon Hack then chimed in with his take on the situation.
“It’s one of the more bizarre and unique days I can recall,“ Hack admitted.
“One thing for me is just the vacuum, the lack of a coherent leadership voice coming from LIV Golf to ease the concerns of players and vendors, who according to some sources we have spoken to are yet to be paid.
“The big surprise to me with some strong reporting from reputable media outlets, there has not been someone from LIV Golf to step up outside of the social media realm and take the leadership role in this story.“
Eamon Lynch’s take on current LIV Golf situation
Lynch criticized the sheer lack of transparency from LIV Golf leaders, when speaking alongside Lerner and Hack on The Golf Channel.
Advertisement
“If Scott O’Neil has said that the league is funded through 2032, right now it seems that the players are getting assurances that it might only be funded until the end of the season,“ he said.
“What does that say to a guy like Jon Rahm who has a contract which has extended beyond the end of the season as well? I think these players have absolutely no idea what the future holds, as it’s very clear that the leader of their league has no idea what their future holds.
“It’s an embarrassing day for LIV Golf. When they don’t even know the runway that they have been given.
“It’s also an embarrassing day for the leadership of their tour that they were nowhere to be seen, because they don’t know what is happening.
“They have one benefactor and they do not know what that one benefactor thinks for their future.“
Read the full article here