LIV Golf is heading toward a critical money change after the 2026 season, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund set to pull its funding and the league preparing to announce new investment. If that money does not replace what has been spent so far, the circuit could be left far smaller than it has been since launching in 2022.
That matters now because LIV Golf’s future beyond the 2026 season depends on whether the new money is large enough to keep it operating in 2027 and beyond. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has reportedly spent more than $5 billion on the league since it started, and a shift away from that level would change the economics of every contract on the books.
Brooks Koepka is one of the clearest examples of what is at stake. In December, he agreed with LIV Golf officials to give up the final year of his deal and seek reinstatement to the PGA Tour, and he is allowed to play in PGA Tour events this season under the Returning Member Program. But he will not receive FedEx Cup bonus money in 2026, and he is shut out of player equity earnings from 2026 through 2030, a break that the PGA Tour said could cost him about $50 million to $85 million.
The Return Member Program, introduced in January, is open to golfers who have been away from the PGA Tour for at least two years and have won one of the five major championships during the 2022-2025 seasons. Brian Rolapp has said he would consider allowing more LIV defectors back if it made the PGA Tour stronger, and Patrick Reed is taking a different route from Koepka in seeking a comeback before the 2026 season. That leaves Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm among the players caught between a league that may be losing its financial anchor and a tour that is starting to open a door back.
There is still a major gap between the promised new investment and the money LIV Golf has lived on since 2022. If the replacement is only a fraction of the current backing, the league may survive in name but lose the scale that made it a threat in the first place. For players, that could turn long-term loyalty into a legal fight, or a quiet exit.
