LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed circuit that upended professional golf in 2022, has laid off the majority of its workforce as it scrambles to survive without the money that built it. September 1 was the last day of employment for most of the league’s staff, marking the most dramatic sign yet that the disruptor’s future is anything but certain.
What Happened
LIV Golf informed employees that their roles would end starting the first week of September, cutting the bulk of a staff that numbered more than 300 at its peak. The league framed the move as a necessary contraction, saying it is “scaling back operations as we transition to the next chapter of LIV Golf and work toward making LIV 2.0 a reality.”
The timing was pointed. The cuts landed just after the 2026 season wrapped up — a campaign in which Michael La Sasso won the season finale and Jon Rahm secured the season-long individual championship. On the course, LIV looked healthy. Behind the scenes, its business model was collapsing.
Why the Money Vanished
LIV’s existence has always depended on Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which poured a reported $5 billion into the venture across five years. That spigot is closing: PIF confirmed it would stop funding the circuit at the conclusion of the 2026 season. Without that backing, LIV cannot sustain the massive guaranteed contracts, appearance fees and operational overhead that defined its first era.
The end of PIF money reframes years of golf’s civil war. The 2023 framework agreement that was supposed to reunite the men’s game with the PGA Tour never produced a finished deal, and the broader reshaping of professional golf’s business model has left LIV increasingly exposed as the tour it challenged consolidates its position.
Enter BC Partners: The “LIV 2.0” Plan
LIV is not conceding defeat. CEO Scott O’Neil announced earlier this month that the league had come to terms with a lead investor and signed a term sheet to fund its next phase. Multiple reports identified that investor as the credit arm of BC Partners, a European private-equity firm, with LIV seeking roughly $250 million to $350 million to continue operating beyond 2026.
Under the proposed “LIV 2.0” model, the tour would run a leaner schedule of about 10 events a year and aim to reach profitability within three years. LIV leadership has said it hopes many of the just-laid-off employees can eventually return if the deal closes. But a term sheet is not a signed contract, and until the money is wired, the league’s 2027 season remains a question mark rather than a certainty.
How We Got Here
LIV launched in June 2022 with a simple, expensive proposition: lure the world’s best players with guaranteed contracts said to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, then build a new tour around them. It succeeded in fracturing the sport, pulling in names like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and, eventually, Jon Rahm. The PGA Tour responded by suspending the defectors and, in 2023, stunned the golf world by announcing a framework agreement with PIF to end the litigation and combine commercial interests.
That agreement never crossed the finish line. Years of negotiations, regulatory scrutiny and competing visions left the men’s game in limbo — two tours, one set of superstars split between them, and no unified schedule. The layoffs are the clearest signal yet that PIF’s patience, and its willingness to keep writing enormous checks, has run out.
Why It Matters
Whatever you think of LIV, its rise forced professional golf to change. Guaranteed money, no-cut fields, team formats and shotgun starts pushed the establishment to raise purses and rethink its calendar. If LIV shrinks dramatically or folds, the competitive pressure that drove those changes eases — with real consequences for player earnings and for how the sport is packaged.
It also affects the stars who took LIV’s money. Players such as Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka signed on partly for guaranteed paydays and a lighter schedule. A downsized LIV raises hard questions about their competitive futures, their world-ranking access and whether a path back toward the majors and events like the Presidents Cup and The Open becomes a priority again.
What This Means For You
For the average fan, the immediate takeaway is uncertainty. If you enjoy watching LIV’s team golf and its roster of stars, a 10-event “LIV 2.0” would be a very different product from the league you started following — and that is the best-case scenario if the BC Partners deal closes. If it does not, some of the biggest names in the game could be looking for a new home in 2027.
The bigger picture is that men’s professional golf is likely heading toward some form of reunification, whether through attrition or negotiation. That should eventually mean the best players competing against each other more often, which is what most fans wanted all along.
And while the business of golf sorts itself out, the game itself is not going anywhere. If the drama has you itching to get back on the course, tighten up the fundamentals that actually lower scores: build a repeatable pre-shot routine and sharpen your lag putting, two of the fastest ways for everyday golfers to shave strokes no matter what happens at the top of the sport.
Key Takeaways
- LIV Golf laid off the majority of its 300-plus staff, with September 1 the last day for most employees.
- The trigger: Saudi Arabia’s PIF is ending its funding after the 2026 season, following a reported $5 billion investment.
- LIV has signed a term sheet with a lead investor — reported to be BC Partners — and is seeking $250-350 million for a leaner “LIV 2.0.”
- A term sheet is not a done deal; LIV’s 2027 season is not yet guaranteed.
- For fans, expect a smaller LIV at best — and renewed momentum toward reunifying the men’s game.
