PIF may declare force majeure on LIV Golf, sources say

• PIF streamlining portfolios
• Reports of emergency meeting
• LIV Golf denies rumours

Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf could become the most high-profile business casualty of the Iran war to date, with sources suggesting the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund is on the cusp of using force majeure to withdraw its billion-dollar funding.

Speculation over the future of LIV Golf has intensified this week following the publication of a new investment strategy from Saudi’s $900 billion Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has funded the competition since it was launched in 2022.

The PIF on Wednesday said its 2026-2030 plan will organise investments into three portfolios: a Vision Portfolio focused on domestic projects that can attract foreign capital, a Strategic Portfolio managing key national assets, and a Financial Portfolio covering global investments.

But the absence of sports investments – as well as golf, PIF has invested in football, tennis, boxing, Formula 1, wrestling and esports – has led to reports that the sovereign wealth fund was preparing to withdraw its funding for LIV Golf.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that executives from LIV Golf had attended an “emergency meeting” in New York, while the Financial Times said that funding would be cut.

Golf blogger Ryan French said on Tuesday night in a post on X that an announcement on the future of LIV was imminent.

Reports of its demise, however, have been strongly denied by LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil, who sent a memo to staff on Wednesday night.

“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” he said in the memo, a copy of which was sent to Associated Press.

Force majeure is a common clause in contracts that essentially frees parties from liability when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond their control, such as war, prevents the fulfilment of obligations.

In Bahrain Bapco (oil) and Alba (aluminium), which were both targeted by Iran during its conflict with the US and Israel, declared force majeure in March after attacks made them cut production.

LIV Golf was launched in 2022 with a promise to disrupt professional golf. Offering massive prize purses and poaching high-profile players from the PGA and DP World Tours, LIV has poured capital into a business model that has yet to demonstrate long-term commercial viability.

Peace talks between LIV and the PGA Tour and DP World Tour began in the summer of 2023 with a potential merger mooted. But that has since failed to materialise.

In October last year LIV Golf’s UK operations reported a 2024 loss of $462 million, bringing accumulated losses to more than $1.1 billion since its launch. 

• PIF injects further $550m into Lucid
• Saudi banks vulnerable to fallout of prolonged war
• Retail investors from Gulf and beyond target region’s stocks

“In a conservative sport, this was a disruption too far. In the annals of golfing history, one suspects that LIV will be marked down as a distraction rather than something that fundamentally changed the sport,” Simon Chadwick, a professor of AfroEurasian sport at Emlyon Business School and AGBI columnist said.

The 2026 season, which began with great fanfare under the floodlights in Riyadh in February, saw an increase in the total team-retained prize funding by $5 million per event, according to a statement.

As a result, weekly team prize payouts doubled to $10 million with all 13 teams earning prize money each week based on finishing position, rather than only the top three teams.

The league also launched a $2.3 million prize pool per event in 2026 to reward individual performances of podium finishers each week.  

In total, LIV Golf’s 14-event season will reward $470 million in individual and team purses for 2026 performance.

“LIV has been an expensive disaster,” said Kieran Maguire, a UK sports economist.

LIV Golf and the PIF have been contacted for comment.