LIV Golf League

The LIV Golf League is a professional men’s golf league that was founded in 2021 to challenge the dominance of the more established PGA Tour and DP World Tour (formerly the European Tour). Originally financed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV Golf stirred up the established golf world and, as a result, has been at the center of controversy since its inception.

Initially billing itself as “Golf, but louder,” the league lured some of the game’s highest-profile players—including Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson—and instituted nontraditional formats. In doing so it created deep divisions within the sport, became the subject of lawsuits, and, because of Saudi Arabia’s involvement, invited allegations of sportswashing. Amid continuing battles with the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, LIV Golf struggled to establish an economically sustainable business model. In April 2026 the Saudi sovereign wealth fund withdrew its support from the league, and in September LIV Golf filed for bankruptcy.

The formation of LIV

LIV Golf was initially founded in October 2021 as LIV Golf Investments. Greg Norman was named CEO of the new entity. It was Norman’s second time becoming involved in a rival golf league, as he had attempted to form the World Golf Tour in the 1990s. From the outset, LIV wanted to change the game with its own set of rules, including:

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• Fewer holes. Instead of traditional 72-hole events, LIV tournaments originally consisted of 54 holes (three rounds of 18 holes).
• No-cut format. In PGA events only golfers who shoot a score better than the “cut line” after two rounds continue to play for the weekend. In LIV events players no longer need to “make the cut.”
• Team play. LIV players compete as part of a team, as well as playing for themselves, in each tournament. LIV has 13 four-player teams.
• Guaranteed contracts. Compensation upgrades from traditional PGA agreements, as well as large tournament prizes, have drawn players including Mickelson to LIV.

On March 16, 2022, LIV Golf unveiled its eight-tournament LIV Golf Invitational Series, which was to begin with LIV Golf Invitational London at Centurion Club on June 9. Each event had a $20 million purse for the individual portion with an additional $5 million purse split among the top three teams in each event (originally 12 total teams). In comparison the largest purse the PGA Tour offered in 2021 (outside of the Tour Championship) was $15 million for the Players Championship. In response the PGA Tour announced that LIV Golf Invitational London would not be an authorized event.

However, golfers found the new league intriguing. The guaranteed contracts in addition to prize money meant players didn’t have to worry about failing to make the cut and earning nothing for an appearance. With fewer events, LIV required less travel than the grinding PGA Tour, which featured tournaments almost every week.

Another source of concern for players involved media rights. PGA Tour members are classified as independent contractors, but the PGA controls their exclusive media rights. Because of this players felt they were restricted from playing in events outside the PGA Tour and inadequately compensated for the revenue and media value they generated.

First LIV event, players defect from PGA Tour

LIV’s first field was headlined by big names, including six-time major winner Mickelson, two-time major winner Dustin Johnson, and 2017 Masters champion Sergio García. Other PGA Tour winners to participate included Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood. Shortly after Johnson hit the first tee shot in LIV history, Jay Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, sent out a memo announcing that all players involved were suspended from the PGA Tour. The DP World Tour fined and banned LIV players.

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Two-time PGA Tour winner Charl Schwartzel won LIV Golf Invitational London, taking home $4 million for the individual win and an additional $750,000 because his team, Stinger GC, won the team competition. In the wake of the inaugural event, other big-time names joined LIV, including five-time major winner Brooks Koepka and 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau.

Especially in the early days, many PGA Tour golfers were highly critical of LIV. Tiger Woods, who reportedly turned down a “high nine digits” offer to join LIV, said that he didn’t understand LIV. He was critical of players turning their backs on the PGA Tour, which he said “allowed them to get to this position.” He also wondered whether LIV’s guaranteed money and no-cut format incentivized players not to practice.

Rory McIlroy was similarly vocal, criticizing the league, Saudi Arabian money, the players, and CEO Norman. After winning the FedExCup Championship in 2022, he said, “I hate what [LIV’s] doing to the game of golf. I hate it. I really do.”

A battle over points

In July 2022 LIV Golf applied to receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. Made up of representatives of major golf tournaments and governing bodies, the OWGR distributes points in eligible events according to a player’s finish on the leaderboard. Better finishes mean more OWGR points and a better ranking. High OWGR positions can secure players’ spots in big-time events, such as major championships, the Ryder Cup, and the Presidents Cup. In October 2023 OWGR denied LIV Golf’s application. OWGR cited the limited fields and 54-hole no-cut events as reasons for rejection. The simultaneous team competition also posed a problem, as players could change their approach for a shot given their team’s position.

The biggest problem was that LIV Golf was essentially a closed shop. There was very little turnover of LIV players compared with that of other global tours. On one end, big-name players with contracts were pretty much guaranteed to stay on from season to season regardless of performance. On the other, there were very few ways for newer players to earn a spot in the league. This has meant continued difficulty for LIV golfers in playing themselves into big events.

Battles, truce, stagnation

In August 2022 multiple LIV golfers, including Mickelson, filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. LIV Golf soon joined the lawsuit as an interested party. The lawsuit claimed that the PGA Tour’s suspension of players was unfair and that the PGA Tour’s supposed monopoly over competitive golf made it difficult for LIV Golf to compete and sign players at a fair cost. It also alleged that it was difficult to recruit players, who feared being punished financially.

The PGA Tour filed a countersuit against LIV in September, alleging that the league influenced former Tour members to breach existing contracts by offering large sums of money. They also claimed Saudi Arabia was using the game of golf and LIV players in an effort to sportswash—more specifically, to distract from problematic events, including human rights violations, happening in the country.

In June 2023 the golf world was shocked as the PGA Tour, LIV Golf, and the DP World Tour announced the framework for a deal to unify themselves into a single, for-profit entity. All lawsuits against related parties were to be dropped. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund would become a major investor in that business. The PGA Tour would continue to run its events, and suspended players would be allowed to apply to play in the 2024 season, with the merged entity handling sponsorships, media rights, and other commercial rights.

Shortly after the merger was announced, the U.S. Department of Justice opened an investigation into the proposed alliance to determine whether it violated antitrust laws. The U.S. Congress also opened an investigation into the merger, with Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal expressing concern about the influence the Saudi Arabian government would have “over a cherished American institution.”

Ultimately, the merger did not go through, as the parties did not meet the self-imposed December 31, 2023, deadline to finalize the agreement. LIV continued to sign big-name players, such as defending Masters champion Jon Rahm at the end of 2023.

Reformatting, rebranding, and players returning to PGA Tour

In late 2025 LIV Golf announced a shift away from its 54-hole tournaments to a more traditional 72 holes. Field sizes expanded from 54 to 57 players, as the league added three wild card spots (a way that a player who is not part of a team can qualify). Shotgun starts and the 13 four-player teams remained the same. In February 2026 OWGR announced that it would award ranking points for the top-10 finishers (and ties) in individual stroke play events on the LIV Golf tour.

LIV Golf continued to sign more PGA Tour players, such as Thomas Detry and Michael La Sasso. However, LIV was dealt a blow when Koepka, who signed with LIV in 2022, rejoined the PGA Tour in 2026 as part of the limited-time “Returning Member Program.” Koepka was eligible because he won the PGA Championship in 2023. Although he was reinstated to the PGA Tour, he accepted financial penalties and wasn’t immediately eligible for the tour’s new Signature Events. DeChambeau, Rahm, and Cameron Smith were the only other players eligible to return to the PGA Tour, but all three elected to stay with LIV.

“Sportswashing” controversy

The creation of LIV Golf sparked many controversies in the golf world, some of which were political. Because of heavy investment from Saudi Arabia’s PIF, many accused the Middle Eastern country of sportswashing, or attempting to improve its public image through association with sports.

Investment in sports is part of Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” plan, which aims to diversify its historically oil-dependent economy. In addition to investing in LIV, Saudi Arabia bought English Premier League team Newcastle United and hosts WWE events, Formula 1 races, and more.

The PIF also bought ownership of four teams in the Saudi Pro League (soccer league). This allowed those teams to spend exorbitant amounts of money to bring in some of the top players in the world, including Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo, whose two-year contract extension with Al Nassr, signed in 2025, is reported to be worth up to nearly $1 billion.

Critics point to the country’s history of human rights violations as ethical reasons not to support the LIV Golf. These concerns include Saudi Arabia’s laws discriminating against women and restricting free speech. Of particular concern was the murder of U.S.-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who had been critical of Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

PGA Tour response

The formation of LIV Golf greatly affected the PGA Tour beyond the pillaging of players. LIV’s huge contracts and large tournament purse sizes caused the PGA Tour to put more money into its own purses.

In 2023 the PGA Tour debuted what are now known as Signature Events, designated tournaments within each season with larger purses ($20 million) and limited fields, ensuring the best players on Tour play. Compared with standard events, Signature Events also award more FedExCup points, which are crucial in determining a player’s eligibility for the FedExCup Playoffs, the Tour Championship, and the bonus money that comes with those.

The PGA also announced its Player Equity Program (PEP) in 2024, a program that grants eligible players equity in PGA Tour Enterprises, the tour’s for-profit entity that encompasses its commercial assets. Giving players equity incentivizes them to commit long-term to the tour and rewards them for their performance.

Withdrawal of the PIF and bankruptcy

In April 2026 the PIF announced that it would not fund LIV Golf after the conclusion of the 2026 season. In response, LIV Golf began to seek alternative funding sources that would allow the league to continue. Amid this uncertainty, a planned LIV Golf event in New Orleans was canceled and the league’s flagship Team Championship competition, scheduled for late August, was also called off. LIV was unable to secure funding; and in November representatives of the upstart and controversial league told a bankruptcy court that LIV would liquidate.