Henrik Stenson gives verdict on LIV Golf after "turbulent" years

Henrik Stenson says he has "no answers" for what comes next in the elite men's game after the upheaval caused by LIV Golf but will be watching the sport's next chapter "like everyone else".

The Swede was among the first wave of players to be recruited by the breakaway tour in 2022, and his decision to join Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood in the Majesticks quartet cost him the European Ryder Cup captaincy.

Stenson won on his LIV debut but struggled thereafter, ultimately being relegated at the end of the 2025 season before embarking on the next chapter of his career with a move to the over-50s circuit and a return to the DP World Tour.

Reflecting on his stint with LIV Golf, the former Open champion told the South China Morning Post that the past several years have been "turbulent".

But he believes LIV has been very popular in many parts of the world.

"It's brought top-class golf to areas that have been starved of that and had huge receptions and success," he told the publication.

"It's definitely changed the game.

"I can fully understand that some of the golf fans felt like it got split up, and some of their favourite players went left, and some of the players went right, and they didn't get to see everyone compete and so on."

LIV Golf has been reeling since April after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund confirmed it would no longer bankroll the venture.

The decision sent shockwaves across the sport and forced chief executive Scott O'Neil into a race against time to secure fresh investment.

O'Neil told reporters two weeks ago that a term sheet had been signed with a new investor and that he expects the transaction to be finalised in September.

However, a hard deadline of September 1 reportedly exists, with certain players needing to commit to a reimagined version of LIV Golf.

O'Neil is touting a LIV Golf 2.0, which will see the league reduce its schedule to just 10 events in 2027 and offer smaller prize purses.

Jon Rahm's decision over whether to remain with LIV Golf could prove crucial to the league's future.

According to Telegraph Sport, LIV officials fear the two-time major champion will walk away, apparently believing his contract would then be null and void.

"I don't have the answers to what's going to happen next," Stenson said.

"I will follow it like everyone else, but it was certainly a shake-up, and a shake-up comes with good things and some bad things."

Stenson reportedly agreed a £20m deal to join LIV.

He stressed that he felt he did what was right at the time, but he was subsequently stripped of the European Ryder Cup captaincy.

Luke Donald replaced Stenson and is now arguably one of Europe's greatest-ever captains after masterminding Ryder Cup victories in Italy and the United States.

Asked how he wants to be remembered, Stenson said he hopes people recognise that he – and the sport as a whole – have always given back.

"Golf is a great game in that sense," he said. "I think it's probably one of the best, if not the best, sports in giving back to charities and different initiatives all around the world.

"That doesn't matter if you're playing on LIV, you're playing on the PGA Tour or on the DP World Tour. 

"So, we [players] are all great at giving back. I think that's the thing. We should all take pride in that and be remembered for it.

"We do a lot to promote the game outside of competing, and we all made different choices on where we saw opportunities and where we wanted to play on different tours.

"We all did what we felt was right at the time and tried our best."