04/30/26 08:24:00
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04/30 08:22 CDT LIV Golf has a new chairman and seeks new funding without Saudi
backing
LIV Golf has a new chairman and seeks new funding without Saudi backing
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
LIV Golf announced a new board and a new business strategy Thursday as it tries
to forge ahead without Saudi Arabian funding that allowed the league to launch
nearly four years ago with oversized contracts and prize funds.
Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the Public Investment Fund governor who was behind the
creation of LIV Golf, is no longer listed as chairman of LIV Golf.
LIV announced Gene Davis of Pirinate Consulting Group and Jon Zinman of the
strategic advisory firm JZ Advisors are leading a newly created board, with
Davis as chairman. The focus is on securing long-term financial partners when
Saudi funding ends after this season.
LIV said it was seeking to move toward an investment model involving multiple
partners and team franchises. The league has said it expects 10 of its 13 teams
to be profitable this year.
"The executive leadership team, along with Jon and I, see a clear opportunity
to help the league formalize its structure, attract and secure long-term
capital, and position the business for growth while continuing to promote the
game across the world," Davis said in a statement. "We look forward to
positioning LIV Golf for future success."
Sports Business Journal reported Wednesday night Al-Rumayyan has resigned as
LIV chairman. There has been no official announcement from PIF on Al-Rumayyan
or LIV Golf funding.
Scott O'Neil, the CEO at LIV Golf, had told Britain-based TNT two weeks ago
during the Mexico event: "The reality is that you're funded through the season,
and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business
plan to keep us going."
That raised questions whether LIV Golf could keep some of its top players once
their lucrative contracts expired. With financial muscle from Saudi Arabia's
sovereign wealth fund, LIV was able to spend $1 billion to land the likes of
Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith and eventually
Jon Rahm, the last big signing at the end of 2023.
The newsletter Money in Sport reported earlier this year that LIV Golf already
had spent $5.3 billion since the league launched in 2022, a figure that would
be $6 billion by the end of this year.
LIV staff and players have been aware Saudi funding was only through the 2026
season. Thursday's announcement was to outline plans to seek other sources of
funding for a league that currently offers $30 million prize funds at each
tournament.
Al-Rumayyan is passionate about golf and long wanted a seat at the table with
the sport's leadership. He signed a framework agreement in 2023 with the PGA
Tour and European tour and was set to join the PGA Tour Enterprises board if it
was approved.
The deal never materialized, except for ending antitrust lawsuits. PGA Tour
Enterprises instead got a minority investment from a consortium of North
American sports owners.
Al-Rumayyan was at the White House in February 2025 to meet with President
Donald Trump along with a PGA Tour team that included Tiger Woods, Adam Scott
and Commissioner Jay Monahan. But it was clear LIV and the PGA Tour could not
find common ground, mainly because the Saudi league wanted to stick with a team
component.
DeChambeau and Rahm --- both multiple major champions --- are considered LIV's
top two players.
DeChambeau said in an interview with the Flushing It social media site that "as
long as LIV is here, I would figure out a way for it to make sense."
"There's a lot of moving parts like in any business," DeChambeau said. "It's a
startup, right? And so there's going to be times where we're squeezed and
punched. This is one of those moments. But I'm going to do everything in my
power to make it work and I really see the value in franchise golf."
LIV Golf earlier this week said it was postponing its June 25-28 event in
Louisiana to the fall. The next event is scheduled for May 7-10 in northern
Virginia, and O'Neil had said in a memo to staff two weeks ago the season would
be uninterrupted and "full throttle."
Al-Rumayyan was all about team golf when he and former CEO Greg Norman launched
the league, even though the team concept was one reason it took more than three
years for LIV to get recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking.
Koepka left LIV after last season and the PGA Tour granted him a path back with
stipulations that included no access to equity grants for five years, a $5
million charity donation and no bonus money this year.
The tour offered it to three other LIV players who had won majors since 2022
--- Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith --- and gave them a Feb. 4 deadline to accept.
None did.
In an interview earlier this week with The Wall Street Journal, PGA Tour CEO
Brian Rolapp said: "We're interested in having the best players who can help
our tour. Not every player can do that."
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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