Lawsuits, Doubts Over Season Finale And 'Players Preparing To Leave' - All The Latest As LIV Golf Rolls With The Punches

It's fair to say there's plenty of doubt and uncertainty surrounding LIV Golf as the UK event tees off at JCB Golf Club - and not many of the headlines coming out make for good news.

Some news is confirmed, such as the Asian Tour signing a partnership with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour and ending it's agreement with LIV Golf, along with a settled $1m lawsuit over a former team name Stinger GC.

The latest reports suggest the season-ending Team Championship in Michigan is in doubt, with Martin Kaymer only giving it "a 5% chance" of going ahead hardly a ringing endorsement.

And finally, for now, players are reportedly making plans to leave at the end of the current season with even the ever-positive Scott O'Neil unable to give them enough reassurances that LIV Golf can continue into 2027.

Among the doom and gloom though, Jon Rahm tried to sound optimistic and Joaquin Niemann thinks LIV Golf has been great for global golf and says it's "now time to restructure a little bit and make it better" for next year.

The simple fact though is that we just don't know, even O'Neil doesn't know for sure as talks continue over future investment. And one thing's for sure when you listen to O'Neil, his enthusiasm won't subside and he'll leave no stone unturned in his bid to keep LIV Golf going.

What now for LIV Golf?

There's been no official word from the tour itself, but where are we right now with LIV Golf?

Well, O'Neil has previously stated that the national Opens around the globe would provide a base for the new LIV 2.0 model. However, that's been scuppered as the Asian Tour signed a deal with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour instead.

That shuts the door on big tournaments in the Far East and Middle East being LIV events, and comes after a similar deal was done with the Australian Open.

That will likely mean O'Neil has to quickly pivot to a new business plan - which isn't ideal when seeking hundreds of millions of dollars.

The LIV season continues though in the UK before the USA finale with three scheduled events in New York, Indianapolis and Michigan - that being the season-ending Team Championship.

All indications are that the next two will go ahead but Cleeks captain Kaymer's comments, reported by Bunkered and Today's Golfer, that Michigan was "highly unlikely" suggest the finale will be cancelled.

Next come the lawsuits - with LIV Golf being sued for over $1 million by a Canadian tech company over unpaid invoices and lost revenue.

ESPN first reported Mobii Systems Group Ltd - which supplied LIV's 'Any Shot, Any Time' feature filed a lawsuit alleging LIV failed to pay licensing and usage fees this season.

And later came a report from Front Office Sports which cited court papers showing LIV had to settle a trademark infringement lawsuit with Ohio-based golf tee manufacturer Stinger Golf.

The company had sued for $100m over the name of original LIV team Stinger GC, which is now the all-South African outfit Southern Guards, but settled the case for $1m.

And finally, there's now multiple reports of players planning to leave LIV Golf at the end of the season, Tom Hobbs of FlushingIt among them, with the continued uncertainty just too much to take.

Rahm said he's "always optimistic" but LIV Golf is certainly up against it. We'll know more after LIV Golf UK with an announcement on the upcoming schedule expected, but it's certainly been a tough week with plenty of punches to roll with.