LIV Golf must survive to keep Asian golf thriving

Some of the greatest marketing taglines including “Just do it” and “Impossible is nothing” have resonated so loudly around the sporting sphere that the brands which thoughtfully crafted them have thrived through the test of time.

And then, there is “Long LIV Golf”, a slogan launched a year ago by LIV Golf that feels mistimed as the upstart league currently finds itself stuck in thick rough and fighting to stay alive beyond this season.

The organisation, which was launched in 2022, is tangled in a firestorm after its financial backers, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), announced it would stop funding the league at the end of 2026, having splashed a reported US$5 billion (S$6.4 billion) since 2022.

Nine-figure cheques lured some top players away from the PGA Tour and tournaments that featured a team element and renowned for its revelry, shot-gun starts, loud music and US$30 million prize funds eventually proved too much even for the folks with deep pockets.

While notable corporate backers joined LIV Golf over the years, balancing the books proved to be challenging that its UK arm which oversees its international business reported financial losses of over US$1 billion in its first three years of operations, as highlighted by US media.

Ultimately, the Saudis said, “Thank you, but we’re out”.

“PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season. The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy,” a PIF statement said.

While a pina colada or two are probably being sipped at Ponte Vedra Beach, where the PGA Tour is headquartered, the same probably cannot be said about the folks running Asian professional golf.

At the height of golf’s turf war, a majority of the international tours around the world sided with the PGA Tour by forging strategic alliances, while LIV Golf found an ally in the Asian Tour, which was happy to sign above the dotted lines for LIV Golf to help establish the International Series on its circuit.

The 2021 announcement trumpeted LIV Golf would make a 10-year commitment of at least US$200 million to underwrite 10 new full-field Asian Tour events, to be held in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. This was ground-breaking for the game’s advancement in the Far East.

“We are setting the Asian Tour up as a powerful new force on the world golf stage,” said Greg Norman, CEO of LIV Golf then. Norman left LIV Golf after his contract ended last September.

By and large, the LIV Golf injection has been a boon for Asian golf as International Series events offer up to US$2 million each in prize funds, which is significant for Asian golfers carving out their professional careers in the region.

Moreover, the top two players on the ranking also earn promotion to LIV Golf, a dream for many as it meant competing in no-cut, cash-rich and limited-field tournaments.

Top Filipino talent, Miguel Tabuena, secured his LIV Golf playing rights at the end of 2025, and it was a massive thrill. “This is really huge for me,” he told Asiantour.com.

But as LIV Golf’s hierarchy seeks fresh investments of up to US$350 million by re-thinking its business model, which could include downsizing to 10 tournaments as reported in the US last week, the early writings on the wall are concerning.

Bloomberg said LIV Golf was laying the groundwork for a potential bankruptcy filing if it fails to raise new funds while it also back-tracked on a US$500,000 cash injection into the Korean Open prize money just weeks after announcing it would prop up the long-standing Asian event.

Weeks ago, LIV Golf postponed the launch of a new tournament in New Orleans, citing peak summer heat and the June 11-July 19 FIFA World Cup.

However, there must be hope yet for LIV Golf to ride out this storm as its product could find a suitable place in the game where for example, playing at international markets which do not have a PGA Tour presence could be attractive to new investors.

LIV Golf events in Adelaide and Johannesburg were a massive success with sell-out crowds while annual stops in Hong Kong and Singapore have been well received and supported domestically too.

This week, it travels for the second time to South Korea, bringing its stars, including new recruit An Byeong-hun and his Korean team, to a golf-mad nation starved of top men’s golf action after the PGA Tour stopped playing in the country following the onset of Covid-19.

For Asian golf, it is critical LIV Golf survives as any impact to the International Series, which account for eight of the 17 tournaments on its 2026 schedule, could be detrimental for a circuit which has been a proven career launchpad for stars like K.J. Choi, Arjun Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh, Anirban Lahiri, Thongchai Jaidee and Kiradech Aphibarnrat.

That LIV tagline must hold true for Asian golf to keep thriving.