LIV Golf Chairman To Leave As PIF Cuts Off Funding

LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan is to step down as the Saudi PIF withdraws funding — (Image credit: Getty Images)

LIV Golf chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan is reportedly set to step down from his position as it was confirmed the Saudi PIF will withdraw funding from the team golf league at the end of the season.

Al-Rumayyan was the architect of LIV Golf alongside Greg Norman, but after ploughing more than $5bn into the project, the PIF will officially cut off funding at the end of the 2026 season.

Sources say LIV Golf is "currently engaging in constructive discussions with prospective global investors" but it's clear the current model will have to change if it is to survive.

The reported departure of Al-Rumayyan is the key move though, as it's well known his love for golf was the catalyst for the Saudi PIF getting involved in the sport.

With Norman as the face of business, Al-Rumayyan bankrolled huge outlays of cash to sign the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.

The spending was always going to wind down at some point, but it will now come to a complete end later this year.

Norman himself recently said his replacement Scott O'Neil would have to get out and find new funding - and that appears to be the plan moving forward.

O'Neil had said the LIV Golf season would continue "at full throttle" during a pssionate defence of the league at LIV Golf Mexico.

Yasir Al-Rumayyan and Greg Norman at the LIV Golf Team Championship

The response was after reports emerged just before Mexico of the PIF withdrawing funding, leading O'Neil to appear on the TV broadcast and presenters Arlo White and David Feherty to hit out at the media for the "absolute nonsense" being written.

O'Neil did later admit to UK broadcaster TNT Sports that PIF funding was only secure until the end of 2026, comments that were later deleted from a social media video.

That has now proved to be the case though, and now the search for funding will be O'Neil's top job as the LIV Golf business looks to pivot away from Saudi billions.

Sources say there remains a "conviction around the team golf model" and funding will be sought via investments in these as franchises.

LIV Golf has already announced 2027 events in Adelaide, South Africa and Mexico, now there's a race against time to secure enough funding for those to go ahead.

It's now clear though that any LIV Golf future will be without the billions available from Saudi Arabia.

Paul Higham is a sports journalist with over 20 years of experience in covering most major sporting events for both Sky Sports and BBC Sport. He is currently freelance and covers the golf majors on the BBC Sport website. Highlights over the years include covering that epic Monday finish in the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor and watching Rory McIlroy produce one of the most dominant Major wins at the 2011 US Open at Congressional. He also writes betting previews and still feels strangely proud of backing Danny Willett when he won the Masters in 2016 - Willett also praised his putting stroke during a media event before the Open at Hoylake. Favourite interviews he's conducted have been with McIlroy, Paul McGinley, Thomas Bjorn, Rickie Fowler and the enigma that is Victor Dubuisson. A big fan of watching any golf from any tour, sadly he spends more time writing about golf than playing these days with two young children, and as a big fair weather golfer claims playing in shorts is worth at least five shots. Being from Liverpool he loves the likes of Hoylake, Birkdale and the stretch of tracks along England's Golf Coast, but would say his favourite courses played are Kingsbarns and Portrush.