PIF’s LIV Golf investment nearing US$5 billion, says report
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Bryson DeChambeau of the United States poses for a photo with the victor's trophy after winning LIV Golf Korea on May 4.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MIAMI – LIV Golf’s investors are reaching into their pockets again, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) nearing US$5 billion (S$6.5 billion) in spending on the three-year-old league.
LIV Golf Investments, the parent company for worldwide LIV Golf operations, has increased its authorised share capital twice in 2025, once in mid-January and once late in April, for a total of US$674.3 million, according to the Money in Sport newsletter on May 5.
This brings the total spend to US$4.58 billion, with US$1.9 billion of that coming since January 2024.
Money in Sport had previously projected an increase in the PIF investment to US$5 billion by the end of 2025.
With a reference to US$82 million in revenue from January to October 2024, PIF’s filing included the first time a consolidated revenue figure for LIV Golf has been publicly disclosed.
The filing shows the latest authorisations come with three conditions – a minimum number of events this season, a minimum revenue and a finalised TV deal with Fox Sports.
LIV Golf has made significant changes in 2025, including Scott O’Neill replacing Greg Norman as CEO, in addition to altering its team format to make all players’ scores count in every round.
Its first event in the United States of 2025 brought record viewership for the league, with 484,000 people tuning in to watch Marc Leishman’s triumph in Miami on April 6.
Unfortunately for the breakaway league, that was still less than a third of the number of people who opted to watch a standard PGA Tour event the same day.
“I think we all hoped it would have been a little bit further along, and that’s no secret,” Brooks Koepka said ahead of the LIV Golf Miami tournament at Trump National Doral on April 2.
“No matter where you’re at, you always hope everything is further along. But they’re making progress, and it seems to be going in the right direction.”
In other golf news, rising talent Elvis Smylie has been given a late exemption to the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow after claiming the Australasian tour’s Order of Merit in 2024-25.
The 23-year-old Australian and son of former women’s tennis professional Liz Smylie follows in the footsteps of the previous two Order of Merit winners, David Micheluzzi and Kazuma Kobori, who were each given late exemptions to the Major.
The world No. 202 will join a strong Australian contingent at Quail Hollow next week, including former British Open winner Cameron Smith and fellow Major-winners Adam Scott and Jason Day, the event’s 2015 winner at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin. REUTERS
