Strained smiles and uncertainty – the strange end of LIV Golf 1.0

It’s been more than four years since the launch of LIV Golf rocked the game.

A brash breakaway league, bankrolled by Saudi Arabian billions, luring top players with promises of big money.

Still it divides opinion in golf, and has split the loyalty of its champions.

But it could all come to an end soon.

After the League’s Saudi backers pulled its funding – having spent more than $5bn (£3.6bn) – this week’s abortive season finale could be the end.

That’s unless a new deal is struck, soon.

BBC Sport visited the final event of 2026 at an exclusive golf club in Indianapolis, and found a strange atmosphere of surface-level optimism, but deep uncertainty.

LIV staff have learnt to put on a brave face. And that was no more necessary than this week at Chatham Hills Golf Club.

Despite endless questions about the future, they still had a tournament to host, and LIV Golf’s white knight was in town – “the investor”, as he was most frequently described.

The phrase “LIV 2.0” was used on countless occasions by the league’s leadership – and that is the dream they are clinging to.

It stands for a new chapter, a second life for LIV.

There did appear to be genuine optimism that a deal could be struck.

LIV Golf chief executive officer Scott O’Neil believes he can pull off the near-impossible, and so do many of those closest to him.

But there was widespread acknowledgement that, if they do achieve it, the process to get there won’t be easy.

One insider remarked “it’s darkest before dawn”. Another said “it will get worse before it gets better”.

Work is said to be happening at “breakneck speed” behind the scenes, because of the pressure of players needing clarity on their futures, events needing to be organised, and sponsorships agreed.

However, there were players, caddies, staff and volunteers who shared a more pessimistic view with BBC Sport, with one describing it as the “last hurrah”.

One senior figure within golf’s media remarked: “We’re at the hospice, not the funeral.”

Much of the format is expected to stay the same in any new LIV – a shotgun start, team competition, music blaring from speakers and party holes.

But change will be felt in the boardrooms and in players’ pockets.

The “free-spending” days are over.

If LIV does get a second chapter, it will need to be run in a more financially-disciplined way, given overall losses of this era of LIV are expected to have run into several billions of dollars.

BBC Sport has had it confirmed by multiple sources that the prospective investor behind plans for LIV 2.0 is Ted Goldthorpe, head of the credit division of international investment firm BC Partners.

Indeed, one insider referred to him simply as “TG”, a nickname that suggests he has become a familiar face.

Goldthorpe attended LIV’s most recent event in Bedminster, New York, and O’Neil said he was spending time “looking under the hood” of the league.

But in Indianapolis, Goldthorpe kept himself out of public view, even ushered out of a side door of the clubhouse to avoid media huddled by the front entrance.

He did, however, meet players as a group and set out his vision for the future – the primary aim being to make LIV sustainable, and ultimately profitable.

Selling franchises will certainly be part of the plan, and BBC Sport heard from one of the team’s general managers about “significant interest” from investors.

O’Neil said the ambition was to set LIV up so it was “built to last”.

There would be a reduced schedule of 10 events a year, across five continents.

The final location of those may well depend on which players stick around, with Australia’s former Open champion Cameron Smith particularly popular in Adelaide, for example.

O’Neil said the schedule would be aimed at maximising LIV players’ ability to be match-fit come the majors.

Players have been promised equity under a deal with a new investor, but quite what that equates to remains unknown.

They will also get key commercial rights back – called ‘Name Image Likeness’ rights – which means they can maximise their own endorsements.

Prize money was roughly half this week compared to previous events, and that is a sign of things to come.

Over on the American-based PGA Tour – which LIV players are banned from – prize money has increased in recent years, in large part because of LIV.

If the PGA Tour follows through on its plans to have a two-track system – with a Championship Series and a Challenger Series – it is likely that LIV prize money would sit somewhere between those, and higher than the European-based DP World Tour prize money.

If there are no players, there is no LIV 2.0.

So the next few weeks will be critical in providing the specific details players say they’re currently lacking to make decisions over their future.

When asked if there was a critical mass of players needed to sign up for the future before a transaction could be done, O’Neil said: “The entirety of our focus is to get to this transaction and get through it.

“Without the players, that becomes very difficult. I have a good level of confidence in my conversation that we’ll have a critical mass of the right players to move this league forward.”

Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell, who joined LIV in 2022, told BBC Sport the mood among the players was “subdued”.

“There are 57 players out here on LIV and there are 57 different mindsets,” said the 2010 US Open champion.

“Some guys have some exemptions in other tours, some have nowhere to go [if LIV folds].”

He said he would be “taking a step back” to work out his future after the Indianapolis event.

“If LIV 2.0 goes ahead, we’ll look at the schedule and how it all plays out, and see if that suits me and my lifestyle,” McDowell added.

“I have an opportunity to go back to the European Tour and play there as well.

“Whether the two of those can happen simultaneously, whether I can only do one or the other, there are questions like that we don’t know the answers to. Until I get that, it’s very difficult to make any decisions.”

When asked by BBC Sport about his future, Smith, who joined LIV just after winning The Open in 2022, said there would be a “little bit of time to think about that once the season is done”.

Would he like to stick with LIV? “I really love LIV,” he said. “It has done wonders for my family, for golf in Australia, my friends, the people that we’ve got to meet around the world. It would be a shame for it to be done, but we’ll see what happens.”

Other players did not feel comfortable speaking on the record.

One senior player said there is an “emotional” feeling among the group as they await clarity.

Another told BBC Sport “it’s been great”, before quickly adding “it is great”.

It was made clear Jon Rahm – whose future is the source of considerable speculation – would not speak to media aside from his tournament obligations.

American Bryson DeChambeau declined an interview request from BBC Sport.

But after Thursday’s first round, he said: “We definitely have a lot against us.

“If it works, it works, awesome. If it doesn’t, we’ll figure things out. Time will move on, and I would say that time heals things.

“I hope people can see that we actually bring value to the game of golf. My wish is that people give us one more shot and be open minded.”

Several people over the past few days privately told me this week had been “extraordinary”. Here are some examples.

On Monday, Englishmen Lee Westwood and Tyrrell Hatton were sitting side-by-side in the front row of their flight from Dublin to Indianapolis when official confirmation finally came that their season would be ending early this week.

While the Saudi Public Investment Fund had said it would continue funding LIV until the end of the season, the decision to cancel the team event at the end of August in Michigan was necessary financially, and allowed LIV bosses to “focus on the next chapter”.

In the press release about the schedule change came significant news regarding the Indianapolis event too – no live music sets on the weekend, which have been seen as a staple at LIV events over the past four years.

Later on Monday it was announced that routine player news conferences the following day wouldn’t happen.
It was felt, BBC Sport understands, that players would be left fielding questions they simply didn’t know the answers to.

There were reports of vendors suing LIV over unpaid invoices, and of prize money being paid more slowly than normal – although BBC Sport understands that latter issue has been resolved.

Then, at 16:30 local time on Tuesday, the driving range emptied, as players headed for a meeting with “the investor”.
Fifty minutes later they emerged from the clubhouse, with most swerving awaiting media.

A few stopped to chat, but appeared careful about what they divulged.
Martin Kaymer said it was “productive and positive”.

Sergio Garcia agreed it had been “productive”, but when pushed on his future walked away and said “we’ll see”.

American Brendan Steele was the only player BBC Sport spoke to in the week who has nailed his colours to the mast – he wants to remain a LIV player.

“It feels new life has been breathed into [LIV]. There was a lot of excitement and energy in the room.

“I’m committed to being here, this is where I want to be.”

When asked by BBC Sport if he had doubts about LIV’s existence beyond this week’s event in Indianapolis, O’Neil said the “facts are good” and finished his answer by saying “I wouldn’t bet against us”.

So what’s he basing his optimism on?

In terms of uptake of LIV worldwide, LIV said Adelaide attracted a record 115,000 fans – said to make it Australia’s highest-attended golf event – and had a global broadcast audience of 5.5m.

Meanwhile, 100,000 fans attended the event in South Africa, and 50,000 went to the recent UK event, according to LIV.

LIV said 30% of its event-goers had never attended a professional golf event before.

O’Neil said that annual attendance in 2026 would surpass that of 2025, with two fewer events.

LIV Golf said revenue grew by more than100% from 2024 to 2025, and the first half of 2026 suggested this would increase again.

O’Neil also said sponsors were not “running for the hills” despite the uncertainty.

Growth is clearly promising. But there will be no doubt in the minds of Goldthorpe and the LIV hierarchy that turning this into a profitable organisation will take a serious shift in outlook, and of course in spending.

Once everyone packs up from Indianapolis on Sunday night, the focus will turn entirely to securing a transaction to give LIV 2.0 a chance of getting off the ground.

There are a few options available – filing for bankruptcy, pre-packaged insolvency, or someone comes in and pays the outstanding bills.

If all outstanding payments were settled, including on player contracts – such as Rahm, who is understood to be owed millions – then players wouldn’t be able to break their contracts early.

O’Neil said there was a deadline for players to sign up to LIV 2.0, but wouldn’t provide details of what that was.

The manoeuvrings of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour will be crucial.

There are undoubtedly difficult decisions ahead.

This is the end of an era for LIV.

What no one knows yet is whether it is the end full stop.