The breakaway professional golf circuit LIV Golf is set to implement sweeping layoffs affecting most of its employees starting next week, a company spokesperson confirmed Wednesday. The drastic restructuring move comes as the tour enters a period of deep uncertainty following the sudden termination of massive backing from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the deep-pocketed backer that poured an estimated $5 billion into the league over multiple years to poach top-tier talent from the established PGA Tour.
PIF’s funding commitment wrapped up immediately after LIV wrapped its 2024 regular season at the Indianapolis season finale last weekend. In an official statement, the LIV spokesperson outlined that the organization is scaling back its current operations as it transitions toward a planned rebranded “LIV 2.0” iteration set to launch under new ownership next season.
“The funding commitment announced by PIF earlier this year will reach its conclusion. As a result, we are scaling back operations as we transition to the next chapter of LIV Golf and work toward making LIV 2.0 a reality,” the spokesperson said. “This week, we informed many of our colleagues that their employment under LIV 1.0 will end in the first week of September. We are grateful to our employees for their hard work and dedication in building LIV Golf, and we remain committed to supporting those affected through this transition.”
LIV’s leadership says it has already secured a preliminary agreement with an unnamed prospective lead investor, and has offered top players substantial equity stakes in the reorganized league to incentivize them to stay. The circuit is also actively seeking additional minority investors, targeting a finalized restructuring deal by the end of October. A source familiar with the internal plans told Agence France-Presse that only a small core team will be retained through the transition period, and the organization hopes to rehire many laid-off employees if the new investment deal is successfully completed.
Despite these tentative plans, the very survival of the reimagined tour hinges entirely on one critical factor: whether LIV can convince its biggest drawing card players to remain on the roster. Currently, the league’s lineup includes major champions and fan favorites such as Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Sergio Garcia, none of whom have publicly confirmed they will stay with the circuit through the transition.
Multiple industry reports have suggested several top LIV stars are in informal talks about a potential return to the PGA Tour, though PGA Tour officials confirmed this week that they currently have no formal pathway in place to allow LIV players to rejoin the established tour. Speaking at the Indianapolis season finale Sunday, DeChambeau struck an optimistic tone, saying he was “proud” of what LIV had built and that he held “great thoughts about what could happen next year.” Just one day later, however, the 2020 U.S. Open champion posted a cryptic message to Instagram: a photo gallery of his biggest LIV victories paired with the caption “It was a good run,” leaving fans and analysts speculating about his next move.