Padraig Harrington said LIV Golf could survive in a smaller, scaled-down version after the league lost funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, saying the players themselves still want to keep it alive.
Harrington, who finished tied for 18th at the PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pa., said he spoke with several LIV golfers last week and came away with the sense that they are not ready to walk away. “Everyone is preparing for it closing and en masse them wanting to come back, but the LIV players themselves are saying they want to keep it going and stay out there,” he said.
That matters because LIV has built its business around deep pockets and high purses, and any retreat from that model would mark a sharp change for a league that has tried to remake professional golf with team events and a global schedule. Harrington said he was told the circuit may only need to raise $100 million, though a separate report said Scott O'Neil is seeking more than $250 million from new investors and may tell them that full amount could reach profitability in about 20 months.
Harrington said the players he spoke with are willing to help by accepting smaller prize funds. “They think they have a reasonable chance at raising enough funds to keep going,” he said. “I’m told they are happy to take a cut in their prize funds to do that.”
An anonymous player agent painted a similar picture, saying LIV could still stage tournaments in six to eight international markets next season, with purses in the $5 million to $10 million range. The agent said the league cannot keep losing money in Chicago, though Indianapolis worked, suggesting the next version of LIV would have to be leaner and more selective.
That would mean a very different operation from the one on display this season, when LIV has 14 events and $30 million purses. It would also force the league to lean harder on what Harrington sees as its strongest selling point: the team format.
“It could be a different product if it was more team-focused,” he said. Harrington suggested six-man teams, 12 weeks and only four players competing each week, which would leave just eight weeks of action and could be spread out toward the end of the year. He also said there is room for that model if it is coordinated with the European Tour and played outside the PGA Tour schedule.
The league’s plans are not final, and the next step appears to be internal. The report said LIV plans to share the proposal with its players early this week, while O'Neil was at the PGA Championship last week as the discussion over new funding picked up. LIV has also leaned on its relationship with the Asian Tour and World Ranking points for its events, both of which would matter if the circuit tries to shrink without disappearing.
For now, the question is not whether LIV can keep spending at the same level. It is whether enough players, investors and organizers still believe the league is worth keeping alive after the money tightens.
