After $5B in Saudi backing, what’s next for bankrupt LIV Golf?

The PGA Tour said Tuesday that it is not currently considering a new pathway for LIV Golf players to return, further complicating the future of golfers who joined the Saudi-backed circuit. The setback comes as Saudi Arabia shifts its sports strategy toward hosting major events and away from costly efforts to build new leagues, following LIV Golf’s financial struggles, experts told Al-Monitor.

LIV, the breakaway golf competition that was once a threat to the Professional Golfers' Association of America, has vowed to push on after losing its backing from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund in April and declaring bankruptcy last week, but could struggle to stay afloat in the absence of money from the kingdom.

Rise and fall

LIV Golf, an international golf tour that was until recently funded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, announced on Sept. 8 that it had filed for bankruptcy in the US state of New Jersey as part of a restructuring agreement with a subsidiary of the London-based asset manager BC Partners. CEO Scott O’Neill vowed that the league will go on, saying in a statement that he and the leadership “believe deeply in LIV Golf’s future.”