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LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil says season will continue ‘full throttle’ amid reports of Saudi Arabia cutting financial backing

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LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil says the league’s 2026 season will continue ‘uninterrupted’ amid suggestions that Saudi Arabia could cut its financial backing for the breakaway competition; Sky Sports understands there is confusion among players, who are seeking reassurances

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LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil sought to quell speculation about the league’s financial future with a memo to his staff that said the 2026 season will continue as planned without interruption and “at full throttle”.

The memo, a copy of which was sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday evening, followed a long day of reports suggesting Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was on the verge of cutting its financial backing of the upstart league.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that LIV Golf executives had been summoned to an “emergency meeting” in New York, before the Financial Times subsequently reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which bankrolls the project, was on the verge of cutting its support, although that no final decision had been made.

The newsletter Money in Sport reported in February that LIV Golf already had spent $5.3bn (£3.9bn) and was projected to surpass $6bn (£4.42bn) by the end of the year.

Sky Sports understands there was a lot of confusion among players, who would like some reassurances, but none of the team captains had been informed of any imminent announcement.

“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neil said in the memo.

“While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organisation that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.”

Left unclear was how long the funding would last for LIV Golf, which launched in June 2022 by paying roughly $1bn (£737m) in signing bonuses to some of the PGA Tour’s biggest names, such as Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm.

Prize money for individuals and the 13 teams was raised to $30m (£22.1m) this year.

Koepka has since left LIV and was allowed to rejoin the PGA Tour this year with stipulations. Patrick Reed also left LIV and is playing a DP World Tour schedule this year. He is virtually certain to be eligible to return to the PGA Tour in 2027 through the DP World Tour points race.

Questions about LIV’s future funding were raised as PIF revealed a new five-year investment strategy.

“The 2026-30 strategy marks a natural evolution as PIF moves from a period of rapid growth and acceleration to a new phase of sustained value creation, with a strengthened focus on maximising impact, raising the efficiency of investments, and applying the highest standards of governance, transparency and institutional excellence,” PIF said in a release.

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Paige Spiranac’s surprising NFL fandom confession triggers heated debate over loyalty, authenticity, and fan culture

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The 2026 NFL Draft starts Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and the spotlight isn’t only on prospects and front offices. Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has again found herself pulled into NFL conversation, this time for her open support of multiple teams.

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With the Steelers hosting the first round, her long-standing connection to Pittsburgh has resurfaced. But it’s not just about hometown ties. Her broader fandom, which stretches beyond one franchise, continues to draw mixed reactions at a time when fan loyalty is often treated as non-negotiable.

Paige Spiranac roots for 2 NFL teams: Who are they?

Paige Spiranac has never hidden where her loyalties lie, even if they don’t fit the usual mold. She has consistently pointed to her roots while leaving space for other allegiances.

“Both my parents are from Pittsburgh so I’ve been a Steelers ..fan since the day I was born. I also love the Bills. It’s a complicated relationship…Who’s your team?” she previously asked her followers. It’s a candid admission, one that reflects personal history more than calculated fandom.

Still, the reaction has been sharp. NFL culture tends to rew ..

 

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Quiet moments on the course can say a lot about what’s coming next.

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Sometimes the most important work happens when nobody is really watching.
Lexi Thompson was out on the 18th green, working through her putting during a practice round ahead of the Chevron Championship in Houston.

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It’s a simple scene, but it shows the kind of quiet preparation that goes into these big tournaments—getting the feel of the greens, adjusting to conditions, and building trust in every stroke.

These are the small details that can shape how a player starts when the pressure kicks in.

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Predicting what will happen to Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson if LIV Golf collapses

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It looks like LIV Golf is over.

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The Saudi Public Investment Fund has reportedly decided that this league simply isn’t worth the hole it’s burning in their pocket, and they’re pulling funds at the end of 2026.

That gives them less than a year to seek new investment. While CEO Scott O’Neil seems confident, it’s going to be extremely difficult to secure funding for a league that is operating at such eye-watering losses.

So this probably pulls the curtain closed on one of the most turbulent, frustrating, confusing, and ridiculous eras in golfing history. Hopefully, we can all return to some reality after the year is over.

But there is still so much uncertainty surrounding golf’s future thanks to this. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed saw the signs early and jumped ship, but they did that with some leverage. So what on earth is going to happen to the rest of these players who didn’t take the olive branch when it was offered to them?

Feelings will be hurt, and careers will be ended. Let’s take a look.

Jon Rahm rejoins the PGA Tour

Koepka returned to the PGA Tour under the returning member program, which saw him pay $5 million to charity, accept that he’ll receive no FedEx Cup bonus money, and agree he cannot be a sponsor exemption for the 2026 signature events.

 

That same deal was offered to Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. They didn’t accept it, but a similar offer will likely be handed out to them again.

 

If LIV Golf folds, Rahm will not hold the same leverage as Koepka did, but he is a bigger star at this stage of his career. Make no mistake, the PGA Tour will want him back immediately.

But Rahm does risk leaving himself without any options at all. Reed didn’t come straight back to the PGA Tour, so he’s spending a year on the DP World Tour first. You’d imagine Rahm would consider doing the same, but it might not be so easy for him.

Rahm is in a feud with the DP World Tour, as the only one of eight players to reject a deal which would have seen him retain his full-time membership. If Rahm agreed to play in six DP World Tour events this year, then he could have played on both LIV Golf and the tour. He did not agree.

For now, his membership is at risk. So, will it be possible for him to spend a season on the DP World Tour like Reed? Maybe not. That makes it all the more likely that Rahm will be back on the PGA Tour the moment LIV folds.

Bryson DeChambeau does YouTube full-time

With DeChambeau, I don’t think it’s as much of a done deal that he returns to the PGA Tour. Not immediately anyway.

He’s been negotiating his contract with LIV, which expires at the end of this season. During these negotiations, he’s made it very clear that he is completely willing to step away from full-time competition and be a full-time YouTuber.

DeChambeau’s channel has over two million subscribers, so he could feasibly do that with all of the money he’s making there.

He was annoyed to see LIV move to a four-day format, so he could commit himself fully to being the content king. It would be a wild thing to do, but it’s also exactly the kind of move you could see the two-time major winner making.

He could qualify for The Open Championship and the US Open, and earn enough points there to play The Masters and the PGA Championship. It’s possible.

He does seem to live for competition, so maybe YouTube won’t quite scratch the itch, but it is on the table for DeChambeau. At least for a year until his suspension expires. Out of Rahm and DeChambeau, the American is absolutely the least likely to take a deal.

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