Former Masters champion turned LIV Golf star insists he 'was not worried' about rumours of league's collapse

Lewis Henderson
Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:10:23 +0000

Former Masters champions turned LIV Golf star Jon Rahm has insisted he "was not worried" about rumours of the league's collapse.

Speculation emerged the series' Saudi backers could be pulling funding, sending shockwaves through the sport.

The breakaway competition, which launched in 2021, positioned itself as a rival to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

However, rumours suggested that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) is set to end its backing, which is reported to be approaching £3.7billion since the series was launched.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

Spanish golfer Rahm, who is reported to have earned £64million since joining the series in 2023, shared he was not concerned about the speculation.

He said: "Until the people in charge told me if the rumours were valid or not, it didn't make sense for me to think about it or to waste time thinking about it.

"As everything suddenly came out, so quickly, I wasn't too worried about that, because normally, before the rumours come out, we know something.

"There's always someone in the league who knows something. It was so fast that I didn't really worry about it."

LATEST SPORTS NEWS

Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace all through to European semi-finals

Arsenal star Declan Rice sends fighting message to Man City ahead of title showdown clash

Liv Golf's top five biggest earners with future of breakaway league in doubt

The Telegraph previously reported LIV Golf executives had been called in for an "emergency meeting" in New York.

PIF funding is suggested to be guaranteed only until the end of the current season and that outside investment would be needed to continue beyond then.

LIV Golf's chief executive, Scott O'Neil, dismissed mounting concerns over the breakaway league's financial stability on Wednesday.

He said: "I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.

"While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass."

When LIV Golf burst onto the scene, it distributed around £737millon in signing bonuses alone to lure some of the PGA Tour's most prominent names, including Bryson DeChambeau, Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.

This year, prize money for individual competitors and the league's 13 teams was increased to £22.1million.

However, the memo left unanswered questions about how long the funding pipeline would remain open.

Speculation about LIV's future grew after the PIF revealed a new five-year investment plan for 2026-30, focusing on "sustained value creation" and "maximising impact" rather than rapid growth.

PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the driving force behind LIV Golf, acknowledged to the Financial Times that the US-Israel war against Iran "would add more pressure to reposition some priorities".

The strategy was formulated before the conflict began.

Meanwhile, the league has experienced notable departures, with Brooks Koepka returning to the PGA Tour this year under certain conditions.

Patrick Reed has also exited, opting for a DP World Tour schedule, and is expected to regain PGA Tour eligibility in 2027 through the points system.