By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-05 18:03:31 | Updated at 2026-08-05 20:58:47
3 hours ago
LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil has announced that the fledgling tour has found a mystery new investor after confirming it is set to land a huge $250million cash injection.
The rebel golf circuit, which launched in 2022 with the financial backing of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, paid nine-figure bonuses to lure top players like Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm away from the PGA Tour, offering $20m prize funds.
But it all began to fall apart earlier this year when PIF said it would no longer fund it after the 2026 season. One event in New Orleans already was scrapped.
Weeks later, a bombshell report from The New York Post at the end of July claimed that LIV Golf has been given a shock new $250m lifeline just as the tour seemed to be dead in the water.
And on Wednesday, O'Neil confirmed it has received financial backing from an unnamed investor.
'LIV Golf has an agreement in place with a lead investor, signed by the investor and approved by the Board, to anchor the transaction and play a key role in supporting the path forward for the League’s next era, driven by and for the players,' he said.
LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil has announced that the tour has found a mystery new investor
The rebel circuit looked dead in the water when Saudi's PIF recently pulled the plug on funding
'We’re also seeing strong interest from more than a dozen additional parties to potentially serve as minority investors, creating a multi-partner model built for long-term stability and growth.
'Notably, our next chapter will make our players the majority equity holders in LIV Golf, a first for a major global sports league, and gives the League the foundation to keep growing the game worldwide.'
O'Neil said he expected to finalize terms with the lead investor in the next few weeks with the goal of getting it done in September. The plan for what is being referred to as 'LIV Golf 2.0' is for 10 team events each year, five of them in the United States and five others around the world.
It also wants to stage events leading into the majors and having a schedule that allows its players to compete on other circuits. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton already play on the European tour. The PGA Tour still has a one-year ban for anyone competing on LIV.
LIV is set to play in Indianapolis from August 20-23. The season-ending team championship in Michigan has been in doubt for several weeks, mainly because the course has not even begun setting up for a tournament scheduled to start in three weeks.
O'Neil met with team captains on Tuesday, and Bryson DeChambeau led a player-only meeting later in the afternoon, though few of the players shared details.
Bryson DeChambeau led a players' meeting about the status of upcoming LIV events Tuesday
'I don’t know… we’ve just got to wait and see on that,' Richard Bland, one of the only LIV players who commented Tuesday, said when quizzed on the team championship in Michigan.
During the players' meeting, Bland said DeChambeau 'just ran through what he knows, and obviously, we’re trying to do it as a group, but we’re individuals as well, so I think the next two to three weeks is going to be where it’s at.
'We’re in this together. We’re fully backing Scott. I think probably in the next two to three weeks we’ll have a bigger picture.
'We’re just in that kind of stage at the minute that we’re positive with what’s going on, but we just need everything to be fully signed off so you can go forward.'
