LIV Golf has moved to quash speculation that its primary financial backer, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), is preparing to withdraw its support from the breakaway golf tour. The rumors, which circulated widely in recent days, were directly addressed by LIV Golf officials, who labeled them as false.
The tour, which launched in 2022 and lured top players like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Brooks Koepka with lucrative contracts, has been a source of major division in professional golf. Its emergence led to a legal battle and prompted the PGA Tour to enter into framework agreement negotiations with the PIF in June 2023, aimed at creating a new commercial entity.
Those negotiations between the PGA Tour and the PIF, which also funds the DP World Tour, have been ongoing for nearly three years. Recent reports indicate that while progress has been slow, talks are continuing, with a potential deal still on the table. The denial of withdrawal rumors suggests the Saudi fund remains committed to its golf investments as part of these complex discussions.
The future structure of professional golf remains uncertain, with players from both the traditional tours and LIV Golf competing in separate events. The resolution of the merger talks is widely seen as critical to ending the sport's current fractured state.
