Golf legend drops LIV captains exit bombshell amid uncertainty over 2027

Sir Nick Faldo claims he is hearing that a number of LIV Golf captains have had enough of the breakaway league and are looking for a way out – even if a revamped LIV Golf 2.0 gets off the ground in 2027.

The six-time major champion made the revelation to Sky Sports' Jamie Weir at this week's $3.5 million Husqvarna British Masters at The Belfry, where Faldo is once again serving as tournament host.

The 69-year-old English golf legend was speaking just days after LIV Golf's 2026 season came to an end in Indiana, with the campaign marking the final year of direct funding from the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF).

LIV Golf's future remains uncertain, with reports suggesting a new investment group, believed to be BC Partners, could take over the league in 2027.

A potential LIV Golf 2.0 is expected to be significantly smaller, with around 10 tournaments and substantially reduced prize funds compared with the previous five seasons under PIF backing.

And Faldo says the mood among LIV's players could already be changing.

"I'm hearing it, you know from the back of the range that quite a bunch, more captains have said that they are done with their team," Faldo told Sky Sports.

"The bottom line is more players are wanting to leave LIV than want to come to LIV right now."

Faldo also questioned whether there would be enough appetite from investors to keep LIV operating at anything close to its previous scale.

"If they really think they can revamp to LIV 2.0, and nothing will be the same, prize money halved, no build-out the same. I mean it's not going to be the same," he said.

"How can anybody invest serious money? I mean they would be asking $350 million. I mean who has really got that to invest in something that's just not popular, I'm sorry."

Watch Faldo's comments in full: 

Faldo's comments come 24 hours after he suggested that Legion XIII and European Ryder Cup teammates Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton could both be looking to leave LIV and return to both the DP World Tour and PGA Tour. 

"It sounds like Rahm and Tyrrell want out and want to come over and come back to playing," Faldo said.

"Once they sort out how they feed their way back into the tour, it's going to strengthen world golf again. That's probably the most important thing. Guys want to get back."

Rising star Blades Brown revealed earlier this week that he recently spoke with Rahm and considers he will probably be back on the PGA Tour "pretty soon". 

Rahm's future remains particularly complicated, with his LIV contract understood to run until 2028. 

The Financial Times has reported that the PIF could potentially buy him out of his contract at a reduced rate.

Hatton, meanwhile, appeared to hint at his own frustrations at last week's LIV season finale when he selected Queen's I Want to Break Free as his party-hole song.

Elsewhere, Fireballs GC captain Sergio Garcia recently confirmed to GolfMagic he will regain his DP World Tour membership for 2027, although at this stage it remains unclear whether he will continue playing LIV Golf alongside it.

One particular headache LIV players now face ahead of next season is that the DP World Tour is reportedly set to ditch conditional releases, meaning it could prove an expensive decision to play a split schedule of tours in 2027. 

For now, LIV's future remains uncertain. 

But if Faldo's information from The Belfry is accurate, the league's biggest problem may not simply be finding a new investor – it could be keeping its biggest names.