Report: LIV Golf players threaten season finale boycott over unpaid tournament winnings

Some LIV Golf players are mulling the idea of not playing the breakaway tour's final event of the season as they are still waiting for their tournament winnings to be paid from their stop in New York, according to a report.

Per Sports Business Journal, some players are still waiting for their prize money to be paid from LIV's last tournament at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster.

The tournament concluded on August 9, with Chile's Joaquin Niemann winning his ninth LIV title in dominant fashion.

LIV players are typically paid their tournament winnings on the Tuesday or Wednesday the week after an event, but SBJ claims that, on the eve of their season-ending finale in Indianapolis, several players are still waiting for payment.

SBJ reports that LIV officials are confident players will be paid, but one source questioned whether the golfers will simply boycott the four-day tournament.

LIV Golf declined to comment to SBJ. 

It is also being reported that LIV Golf Indianapolis will feature a reduced prize purse, with just $10m on offer for the individual portion.

Since launching in 2022, individual purses have been $20m, with the winner receiving $4m. But this week, that will be halved.

There will still be a $30m prize purse on offer for the teams this week, though.

This was later corroborated by Bob Harig of The Daily Drive, who dug out this in LIV's tournament notes:

The news comes 24 hours after LIV Golf finally confirmed their Team Championship, slated for August 27-30 in Michigan, has been cancelled.

It had been widely expected that the $40m finale would not be going ahead as infrastructure was not in place at the host venue.

Tickets were made unavailable to purchase on 12 August. 

Confirmation arrived on Monday, with LIV Golf stating it needed to focus on "rebuilding its next chapter."

In a statement, LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil said: "By concluding the season now, we can put our full resources behind what comes next and maintain the operational rigor this transition demands.

"We are reimagining LIV Golf as a fundamentally new league owned by the players and anchored in a sustainable business model, with an evolved fan experience built for the markets where the game is growing fastest across the globe and the support of world-class partners.

"Professional golf is more unified today than at any point since we launched, creating a genuine opportunity to grow the game together.

"Indianapolis will be a fitting finale for the league as fans have known it and the starting point for what we believe it can become."

O'Neil outlined ahead of LIV Golf New York that new investors had been found to keep the league going in 2027.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) announced after the conclusion of The Masters that it would no longer bankroll LIV.

It's estimated the PIF has spent at least $5bn on the venture but decided to pull the plug as the money required to fund LIV was no longer consistent with their investment strategy. 

O'Neil, who will address media tomorrow, expects the transaction with the new investor to be finalised in September.

But there are reports the deal, thought to be a loan and not an investment, is contingent on star players such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm committing to LIV Golf 2.0.

The 2027 schedule is expected to be reduced to 10 events, with moderate purses on offer.

DeChambeau has spoken of his desire to remain with LIV, but Rahm is expected to leave.

The Spaniard is yet to comment, but reports suggest he is on the verge of agreeing terms with the PGA Tour to return to the North American circuit in 2027.