Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
LIV Golf chief Scott O’Neil has announced an agreement with a lead investor that would allow the breakaway league to forge ahead without the backing of Saudi funding while making players major equity holders.
O’Neil, LIV’s CEO, did not identify the investor, only that they has signed an agreement that was approved by LIV’s board and signals “the path forward for the league’s next era, driven by and for the players”.
O’Neil said LIV are getting “strong interest” from more than a dozen other parties who would be minority investors as the league tries to survive. They spoke on the eve of LIV Golf New York at Trump Bedminster, the penultimate individual tournament.
LIV will also play in Indianapolis on Aug 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.
LIV Golf, 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 $28 million ( $US20 million) prize funds.
But it all began to fall apart earlier this year when PIF said they would no longer fund LIV Golf after the 2026 season. One event in New Orleans has already been scrapped.
O’Neil met team captains on Tuesday, and DeChambeau led a player-only meeting later in the afternoon, though none of the players shared details.
O’Neil said he expected to finalise 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.
They also want to stage events leading into the majors and having a schedule that allows players to compete on other circuits.
Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton already play on the European tour. The PGA Tour still operates a one-year ban for anyone competing on LIV.
