LIV Golf commentators tear into media for "trying to will the league out of existence"

LIV Golf commentators Arlo White and David Feherty ripped into the "nonsense" reports about the league's future ahead of their sixth event of the campaign. 

The build-up to the breakaway tour's stop in Mexico this week has been dominated by rumours that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) were on the verge of pulling their funding for LIV Golf. 

Social media chatter started on Tuesday after one American golf reporter, Ryan French, claimed he had heard from several sources that a "bombshell announcement" about the league's future was imminent. 

It was subsequently reported that several high-ranking LIV officials convened in New York for an emergency meeting, though what was discussed remains unclear. 

The Financial Times and other reputable outlets, such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, also reported the PIF was set to pull its funding, either imminently or at the end of the season. 

Yet LIV's chief executive, Scott O'Neil, told his players and staff that their 2026 campaign will carry on at "full throttle". 

Though it was pertinent that O'Neil did not talk about any about plans beyond the end of the season. 

Ahead of the opening tee shots at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City this week, LIV Golf's lead commentator and lead analyst took a moment to address the media reporting. 

Both men are on LIV's payroll. 

Watch below:

"We're delighted to report that the reports of the imminent demise of the LIV Golf league were, in fact, greatly exaggerated," White said.

"I had a good chat with LIV CEO Scott O'Neil in the last hour, he was very confident about the future, very bullish about the future of the LIV Golf league."

White added that an interview with the aforementioned O'Neil was due to air during the broadcast. 

Feherty then took aim at the "absolute nonsense".

"I've been in the professional game for 50 years now and I don't think I've ever had two or three days where there was more absolute nonsense spread out," Feherty said. 

"There are still some writers and broadcasters that take pride in their work, but this generation has spawned fast typists that consider themselves to be experts, and evidently, they're not."

White added: "It must be exhausting trying to will the LIV Golf league out of existence. Just take a day off, everybody. Enjoy the golf."

Soon after their opening remarks, the broadcast went dark on both the YouTube page and the Fox Sports app.

At the time of publication, the stream had been down for two hours and was showing highlights of Bryson DeChambeau's recent victory in South Africa. 

LIV Golf also expressed technical issues earlier in the week. 

Jon Rahm's scheduled pre-tournament news conference on Tuesday was cancelled and the media centre was closed. 

Press conferences were held on Wednesday, though. 

Sergio Garcia was asked if players had been told anything about LIV's reported demise. 

The Spaniard said players were told at the beginning of the season that the league would run for many years. 

On speculation of PIF withdrawing its support, Garcia said: "That is not what Yasir [Al-Rumayyan, governor of PIF] told us at the beginning of the year.

"[He told us] that he is behind us, that they have a project of many years. There are always rumours."