Among the lingering questions about the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s decision to stop funding LIV Golf after the conclusion of the 2026 season is when exactly the fund landed on its decision. The news of the PIF’s withdrawal first began to trickle out on April 14 by way of a tweet from Ryan French, who runs Monday Q Info, before gathering steam in the ensuing days via reports from several outlets. The PIF officially announced its decision on April 30.
At the 2026 Masters, which concluded on April 12, LIV players seemed oblivious to their backers’ pivot. That included the league’s biggest star, Bryson DeChambeau, who told me at LIV Virginia last week that during Masters week he was wholly in the dark about what was about to become public information.
“No clue, zero clue,” DeChambeau said. “And then there were reports of me talking to other [PGA Tour] people, and I definitely wasn’t. During the Masters and right after, I had not talked.”
This is where things get a bit weird, because, according to Rory McIlroy, players outside of LIV were hearing whispers about the PIF’s decision before the Masters.
“I feel like a lot of us in this room, including me, we almost knew before the players did that this was going to happen,” McIlroy said from the PGA Championship on Tuesday. “I was hearing about this back in March, April time.”
That’s not to say the PIF’s strategic shift didn’t surprise McIlroy, because it did. At the height of the LIV-PGA Tour tension, McIlroy advocated for the two leagues to find middle ground, saying unification would be “the ideal scenario for golf as a whole.” In January 2025, McIlroy even discussed the potential for a peace accord with President Trump. McIlroy did not see the PIF going anywhere, and now, 17 months later, here we are with LIV Golf in hot pursuit of new investors and its viability beyond this season very much in doubt.
“I can admit when I’m wrong, and that was one that I did get wrong,” McIlroy said. “I think it was always a possibility to happen. Look, I think everyone knows like with everything that’s happening in the Middle East, that had a lot to do; but whenever you have funding tied so much to the geopolitical landscape in the world, that’s a tricky road to navigate.”
Among McIlroy’s friends on the LIV circuit is Ricky McCormick, who carried bags at McIlroy’s childhood hangout, Holywood Golf Club, and now loops for LIV pro Tom McKibbin. McIlroy said he spoke with McCormick in the lead-up to LIV’s Mexico City event — this was the week after the Masters, as news was breaking about the PIF’s decision — and asked him, “Have you guys heard any of this stuff?”
McCormick response, according to McIlroy: “No, everything seems okay over here.”
“It just feels like the rug was pulled from under their feet and everyone was sort of blindsided by it,” McIlory said. “But again, that’s the risk that those guys chose to take. As I said, it leaves — there’s a lot of uncertainty in the air right now.”
Further up the LIV food chain, though, there did seem to be indicators that the PIF was getting restless. When asked about the PIF’s decision last week, LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said: “Was I surprised? I don’t know, it’s hard to even think about that moment. So I’d rather not comment on how I actually felt, my emotion. I can tell you that it was very clear 18 months ago that this was going to be an ongoing concern, that we were going to have to make significant and substantive changes in terms of the way we do business.”
He continued: “It would be naive to be surprised, and it would be irresponsible to be thinking anything else other than how far we have to go to make sure that we can continue to grow this game around the world.”
That path has now grown steeper still. O’Neil told GOLF.com last week that he and his advisors have a plan, parts of which they intend to start sharing with players in the next week or so. Presumably that vision also will be shared with potential investors as the league seeks new funding.
If LIV does make it to 2027, McIlroy said he expects big changes: “If they do somehow get a schedule together for next year, it seems like it’s going to look drastically different to what it’s looked like over the last four years.”
