Thomas Pieters Says He Was 'Ready To Retire' Amid Rumors Of LIV Golf's Demise

Thomas Pieters has admitted he was “ready to retire” when rumors first surfaced that the Saudi Public Investment Fund was preparing to end its backing of LIV Golf.

The rumblings of issues emerged on social media two days before the start of LIV Golf Mexico City, when respected account Monday Q Info, which is run by Ryan French, wrote on X that "a bombshell announcement" on the PIF-backed circuit's future was "imminent."

According to 4Aces GC player Pieters, that led to plenty of anxiety among the players, although not as far as he was concerned, with the Belgian insisting he would be ready to call it a day should LIV Golf cease to exist.

Pieters appeared on Skratch’s Dan on Golf show, where he spoke to host Dan Rapaport about players’ reactions to the breaking news.

He said: “I called home and I was like, ‘Well, I’m ready to retire on Monday if they really pull the plug that quick, and that was OK with me, kind of.”

“The atmosphere was very grim. I had enough of it after about three or four hours. Everybody talking about it. Obviously, everybody’s checking Twitter every two seconds.”

Ahead of the opening round of the tournament, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil attempted to quell fears over the league’s demise with a memo to staff declaring that the season would continue at “full throttle.”

Sure enough, LIV Golf Mexico City went ahead as scheduled, although less than two weeks after the event concluded, it was confirmed that the PIF would withdraw its funding at the end of the season.

Despite Pieters’ ease about what comes next, he insisted that he remains fully committed to the remaining events in the schedule.

He added: “I’m not too fussed about it at this point, because I feel like I still have a duty to focus on these next six, seven tournaments on LIV and then we’ll see.

“Don’t get me wrong, I like to win and I try very hard to win, obviously, you know, I practise a lot, and I work because I do love the grind, I do love it. I would miss competition a lot.

“I feel that’s what I’ve learned these long off seasons we get. That’s the thing I really miss. But again, like, that’s what people expect you to do when you’ve got that talent.”

Pieters had considerable success before signing for LIV Golf in 2023, including six DP World Tour titles, top 10s in two Majors and a Ryder Cup appearance in 2016.

Pieters has also had success with LIV Golf, including helping 4Aces GC finish top of the team leaderboard twice so far this season.

Those achievements appear to have put Pieters at ease with his legacy in the game, while he is under no illusions over where he stands in golf’s pecking order.

He added: “I have gotten a lot out of it already and I’ve achieved a lot of stuff that I didn’t think was possible when I was a kid growing up in Belgium.”

“But I’ll be forgotten, like, which is fine. I’m no Brooks Koepka or a Rory and I’m completely fine with that.”

In any case, LIV Golf may yet have a future, and it has recently announced it has enlisted an investment bank to raise outside capital.