Since the Saudi Arabia-backed Public Investment Fund announced they were pulling funding for the LIV Golf Tour at the end of the 2026 season, there's been widespread speculation about the future of the breakaway league.
While LIV initially grabbed big name stars like Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson and eventually Jon Rahm with big guaranteed contracts and high purses, that momentum seemingly stalled in recent months and years as the league failed to turn a profit. Some younger players, like Michael La Sasso, a recent men's college golf national champion, did forgo the PGA Tour for LIV, but other big names have stayed put.
LIV CEO Scott O'Neil has maintained that there's significant interest from outside investors to continue backing LIV, and recently announced they'd signed a term sheet with a mysterious, anonymous lead backer. Several players have said they remain committed to LIV, and DeChambeau reportedly has attended meetings with potential investors.
LIV GOLF'S END MAY BE IMMINENT AFTER REPORT SIGNALS SAUDI ARABIA IS PREPARING TO CUT OFF FUNDING
But others are clearly skeptical, or clearly looking to jump ship. Kopeka already rejoined the PGA Tour earlier in 2026 under a "returning member program." Jon Rahm seems to be on his way out in a matter of weeks or months, and the DP World tour may be trying to force some players' hands by declining to offer conditional releases to play events on both tours in 2027.
Now another one of LIV's big initial signings has admitted that the end might be approaching for the tour. Ian Poulter who left the PGA Tour back in 2022, recently joined "GOLF LIFE" on YouTube for a nine-hole match against Jimmy Bullard, and said he thinks time might "run out" on LIV.
Bullard asked Poulter if he believed LIV would continue on past 2026, to which he replied, "I think time might run out."
"There is a hard deadline I think of September 1," he continued. "There is four weeks to find $300 million. That is not a lot of time considering people and contracts have got to be signed.
"You have to ask the PIF: are you happy to accept sending this business that is running today into bankruptcy to be able to have a go forward into a 2.0 version, and give someone a $6 billion write-off?"
Poulter added that he's not sure what this means for many players, including himself.
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"I hope for a lot of golfers, because a lot of golfers don’t have much of a choice, because they are in the form of playing LIV Golf.
"There are some who have the opportunity to play DP World Tour and there are a few that might have the opportunity to go and play PGA Tour golf, because they are such big names. There are some that can’t do either.
PGA TOUR CEO SHARES JARRING COMMENTS ABOUT PLAYERS RETURNING AS LIV GOLF SAUDI FUNDING DISAPPEARS
"Where am I at? I am 50. I have some opportunity to play Champions Tour. If LIV does a 2.0, I have a choice to go and play that. It’s up in the air."
Clearly, no one involved expected the PIF to back out of funding the tour, let alone so abruptly in 2026. But this was always the risk in joining what amounted to a "start up" golf league, even one with apparently endlessly deep pockets behind it. And Poulter's also right that it's going to put some LIV players in a tough spot. Obviously, DeChambeau and Rahm, or bigger name players like Tyrell Hatton and Joaquin Neimann, will have plenty of options. But for those on the downside of the career, or younger players like La Sasso, this could be a tough pill to swallow.
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If Poulter's right, we might be weeks away from finding out what happens next.
