The End of LIV

I wrote an article for Coastal Breeze News in February 2024 titled “LIV and Let Die.” What a prophecy that has turned out to be.

LIV Golf now appears to be nearing its end. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is reportedly scheduled to withdraw funding for the breakaway tour at the conclusion of the 2026 season. After investing an estimated $5 billion into the venture—including roughly $3 billion in player contracts—the backers have apparently had enough.

The experiment has been a colossal failure.

That should come as no surprise. LIV’s model has been widely criticized, largely unpopular, and unsuccessful in achieving its stated goals. While the tour is said to be seeking alternative investors, it seems unlikely that meaningful new funding will materialize.

As the saying goes, it’s over—well over—but it never had a great start.

From the beginning, many believed LIV Golf was little more than an exercise in sportswashing—an attempt to distract from Saudi Arabia’s deeply troubling human rights record. Lavish spending may buy headlines and temporary attention, but it cannot erase reality. In the end, image campaigns have limits.

What LIV ultimately proved is that money alone cannot manufacture tradition, credibility, or fan loyalty. Professional golf was built over generations through competition, history, and meaningful championships. Those things cannot simply be bought and packaged overnight. Despite enormous spending, LIV never truly captured the imagination of the sporting public.

Golf fans value competition with consequence—72 holes, cuts, pressure-packed Sundays, and careers measured over time. LIV offered guaranteed money, gimmicks, shotgun starts, and team concepts that never resonated with the broader audience. Fans recognized the difference immediately.

For all the disruption LIV caused, the PGA Tour remains standing as the gold standard in professional golf. Its tournaments still matter most, its history still resonates, and its players still understand that legacy cannot be replaced by appearance fees.

If this truly is the end of LIV Golf, it will be remembered not as a revolution, but as an expensive miscalculation. Billions were spent, divisions were created, and very little was accomplished.

In the end, golf survived just fine without it.