PGA Tour boss responds to stunning reports of LIV Golf's demise

PGA Tour chief executive Brian Rolapp maintained he was in the dark "like everybody else" when asked about reports LIV Golf's financiers are set to pull funding. 

The future of the breakaway tour has been at the centre of frenzied speculation since Tuesday evening.

Ryan French, aka acaseofthegolf on X, claimed that he had heard from multiple sources that the league, which launched in June 2022 and prized multiple major winners from the PGA Tour, is shutting down. 

It was alleged several players and members of staff have not been paid this month.

Telegraph Sport then reported an emergency meeting with several high-ranking LIV officials was held New York on Tuesday, though the agenda is unclear.

The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal have subsequently reported that LIV's backers, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, were on the verge of cutting support. 

Fox News anchor Bret Baier then dropped the biggest bombshell of all when confirming he's heard from two sources with ties to LIV Golf that the PIF will no longer be funding the breakaway league past the 2026 season. 

"I'm like everybody else, I'm just reading things as they come across," Rolapp told the most recent edition of the Trey Wingo podcast.

"I don't know what's going on, and it would be premature for me to speculate.

"So I don't have a lot to say. I see the same stories everyone else sees. 

"As I've said, we're pretty focused on what we're doing here and how we're making the PGA Tour better. That's clearly my focus."

Should the report turn out to be true, it begs the question of what happens to LIV's current roster.

American golfer Brooks Koepka, 35, became the first major champion to quit LIV last December. 

Koepka was able to get out of his contract several months early and returned to the PGA Tour via a hastily arranged returning member programme. 

The five-time major champion later revealed it took a matter of days to secure his return after one phone call to Tiger Woods. 

Patrick Reed became the second high-profile player to leave LIV in January, although his contract expired. 

Because Reed wasn't eligible for the same programme as Koepka, he will return to the PGA Tour later this summer.

Hudson Swafford, Pat Perez and Kevin Na have also had their memberships reinstated but, like Reed, will have to wait until they can return. 

According to a previously leaked memo from the PGA Tour, Perez and Swafford can play again from 1 January 2027, whilst Na still faces disciplinary action for outstanding violations. 

LIV still boast a plethora of young European talent and two bona fide stars in Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm. 

Asked about the likelihood of even more LIV players returning to the fold, Rolapp said: "I've always said on this subject that I'm interested in doing whatever makes the PGA Tour better.

"Fans want the best players playing together - that's something I've said from day one when I took the job.

"That said, I don’t know what the circumstances are. Once there's clarity, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But we're clearly not there yet."

Rolapp's comments come as Sergio Garcia told reporters before LIV Golf's event in Mexico, which is due to begin tomorrow, that the league's players have not heard anything about the rumours. 

The 46-year-old Spaniard, who was heavily criticised for his outburst of anger during last week's Masters, said that LIV's chairman and PIF governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan stressed at the beginning of the year that their project would last for a long time. 

"[He told us] that he is behind us, that they have a project of many years," Garcia said. 

"There are always rumours and I cannot comment anything more to you than what we know."

According to a report by BBC Sport, LIV players were told at the most recent players' meeting that funding was in place until at least 2032.

GOLF's Sean Zak has reported that LIV's most recent capital injection, dated 1 Feb, was for $266.6m and signed off by Al-Rumayyan.

Last year, LIV's dreadful financial situation was laid bare by the Money in Sport newsletter. 

PIF's overall investment was nearing $5bn, the report stated, with LIV's UK-based entity sustaining losses of $1.1bn. 

When asked about the report, LIV chief executive Scott O'Neil said it would take the league at least five to 10 years to become profitable. 

LIV Golf have not publicly commented on the rumours.