Quake in the golf world: Is LIV Golf on the verge of collapse?

From the "revolution of golf" to a financial and operational shambles: There are growing signs that the Saudi Arabian-financed LIV Golf Tour could be facing imminent demise. While the management is holding crisis meetings in New York, the sport is at a standstill in Mexico - allegedly due to unpaid electricity bills and outstanding player salaries.

The quake in Mexico City - LIV Golf on the brink of collapse?

What was planned as a normal tournament weekend at the Club de Golf Chapultepec turned into a scene of chaos on Wednesday. Officially, press conferences were canceled due to "technical problems", but behind the scenes things are boiling over. According to reports from the Golf Channel and insiders such as Ryan French (Monday Q Info), the situation is precarious: several players are said to have threatened to boycott the first round on Thursday because their first-quarter bonuses have not yet been credited to their accounts.

Even more bizarre: sources report that the media center was temporarily without power - not because of a defect, but because bills had not been paid. "Players weren't paid, the power went out [...] things are not good," French wrote on the X platform, citing a "99.9 percent certainty" that the Tour was about to be wound up.

A money-destroying machine without brakes

LIV Golf's key economic data reads like a case study in economic failure. By February 2026, the Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund (PIF) had invested an estimated 5.3 billion US dollars in the project. With a monthly "burn rate" of around 100 million dollars, the Tour is heading for the 6 billion mark by the end of the year.

This contrasts with revenues that are hardly worth mentioning. While the prize money for 2026 has been inflated to over 32 million dollars per tournament, the global TV rights have only brought in a meagre 2.7 million dollars, according to the BBC. "There is pressure in Saudi Arabia to make sure we invest in sustainable things that bring a return," the BBC quotes an anonymous source from the kingdom. "I don't see how LIV Golf can do that."

Change of strategy in Riyadh: golf is no longer a priority

However, the real death blow for the Tour could be of a political nature. Golf simply no longer features in the recently published PIF strategy for 2026-2030. Instead, Saudi Arabia is focusing on the 2034 FIFA World Cup and the lucrative e-sports sector.

PIF Governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan hinted to the Financial Times that geopolitical tensions in the Middle East are also forcing a reprioritization: "Of course, the war would increase the pressure to reposition some priorities." There is speculation among experts that the PIF could use the current world situation as a "force majeure" to terminate the costly contracts with stars such as Jon Rahm or Bryson DeChambeau prematurely.

The facade of the LIV Golf leadership

Meanwhile, LIV CEO Scott O'Neil is trying to limit the damage. In an internal email to the staff, which was made available to ESPN and others, he was combative: "Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full speed." He described the current crisis as a typical pressure phase of a "start-up movement".

Nevertheless, the communication seemed irritating at one point: the email ended with the set: "You mattered". Whether this was a typo or a hidden farewell signal remains unclear. The official reaction on social media was the usual snarky one: "Slow news day? We are ON", the Tour posted on Wednesday evening.

What remains for the LIV Golf stars?

Should LIV actually implode, the players would be left with a pile of rubble. With the "Returning Members Program", the PGA Tour has already opened the door a crack for elite players such as Rahm, DeChambeau and Cam Smith - but under draconian conditions. As the example of Brooks Koepka shows, returning members would have to reckon with fines in the millions and exclusion from lucrative bonus pools.

For the Tour's less prominent professionals, the road back could be far more difficult and lead via the Asian Tour or the DP World Tour. PGA Tour boss Brian Rolapp kept a low profile: "As soon as there is clarity, we will cross that bridge."

The next few days will decide whether LIV Golf survives just another bout of turbulence or whether the "revolution" that began with so much pomp and billions will end quietly with an unpaid electricity bill in Mexico. One thing is certain: the era of limitless checks seems to be over.