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LIV Golf’s future is unclear as it treks through its fifth season. Funding issues have been rumored with speculation of a shutdown swirling.
CEO Scott O’Neil seemed to confirm those suspicions in a now-deleted interview. If the league is unable to continue past the 2026 season, golfers are likely to push for PGA Tour membership.’
How long will players have to wait and what are the consequences?
Can LIV Golf void contracts?
Alan Shipnuck appeared on The Rich Eisen Show last week to discuss LIV Golf’s cloudy future. Player contracts were a topic of conversation.
Shipnuck revealed that an agent told him the league could push to void pre-existing deals through force majeure, citing the war in Iran.
“One agent who has clients on LIV Golf told me that they have heard that Yasir (al-Rumayyan) is trying to claim force majeure with the Iran War. That’s a provision in some contracts. Basically, something totally unforeseen, an act of God, can void the contracts.
“A war might or might not qualify. But that’s one thing that’s been floated.”
Shipnuck’s revelation would have significant impacts on players. If the league shuts down, golfers could be out of both a job and a paycheck.
That would certainly make a push for the PGA Tour returns all the more probable. Will LIV Golf close down, and if so, how long will it take players to get back in the PGA Tour’s good graces?
Scott O’Neil confirms funding issue.
— Jim James (@yamesyim) April 17, 2026
“The reality is, we’re funded through the season,” LIV Golf’s CEO said in an interview now scrubbed from LIV’s socials “And then we’ll work like crazy as a business to create a business plan to keep us going.”
Previously, it had been stated that the league was funded through 2030. Now, that timeline has changed.
Reports have stated that the Saudi PIF, which subsidizes LIV Golf, intends to pull the plug. It’s cited the war in Iran in its reasoning.
Shipnuck said it could take years for players to return to the PGA Tour if their careers with LIV come to a close.
“(PGA Tour) would give them the middle finger,” he said. “Now, it’s time for payback, retribution, vengeance. The Tour owes nothing to these guys. They might carve out a very specific criteria where they could bring back Bryson (DeChambeau) and Jon Rahm. They’re stars that add value to the Tour.
“Everybody else is S-O-L. These guys are going to serve suspensions. They’re going to have to play in the minor leagues on the Korn Ferry Tour. They’re going to have to earn it the old-fashioned way. It might take some of these guys two years to gain any kind of status on the PGA Tour.”
Less than five seasons in, LIV Golf is rumored to be closing its doors. Golfers that hope to return to the PGA Tour will undergo a lengthy battle to regain membership.