Most of the employees who built the Saudi-backed golf circuit will be out of work by the first week of September, a dramatic reversal for a league that once spent freely to reshape the professional game. LIV Golf delivered the news to staff on Wednesday.
Workers in the United States and United Kingdom learned of the cuts three days after the tour closed out its 2026 season in Indianapolis, and the reduction followed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice the league filed in July.
Money sits at the center of the decision. After pouring more than $5 billion into the venture across five years, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund said four months ago that its financial support would end. LIV reportedly lost more than $1.1 billion between 2022 and 2024.
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“As a result, we are scaling back operations as we transition to the next chapter of LIV Golf and work toward making LIV 2.0 a reality,” a spokesman said, adding that the league remains committed to supporting affected employees.
Racing to lock in a new lead investor is chief executive Scott O’Neil, who took over from Greg Norman in early 2025. Ted Goldthorpe, head of investment firm BC Partners, is reported to have agreed to a term sheet, with LIV seeking between $250 million and $350 million and targeting profitability after three years. O’Neil has described “a very compressed timeline” and said any deal will need buy-in from a majority of the current player roster.
Signs of strain run throughout the operation. The season-ending team championship in Michigan was canceled, the Indianapolis purse was cut nearly in half, and multiple vendors are still awaiting payment. O’Neil has vowed to “do right by” contractors that have sued over missed payments.
The vision for LIV 2.0 calls for a 10-event schedule in 2027, split evenly between the United States and international markets, with players potentially holding equity.
Displaced golfers face a murky set of choices. No formal pathway back to the PGA Tour has been outlined, and current guidelines impose a one-year ban on returning players. Tyrrell Hatton, who has multiple years left on his contract, called a Tour return “a long way away” while insisting LIV will survive into 2027.
