Less than two weeks after LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil insisted that the season would continue ‘exactly as planned,’ the rebel tour’s schedule has already begun to unravel.
The future of LIV and its rebels was plunged into doubt earlier this month amid reports that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) could call time on its hugely expensive project.
Amid questions over the circuit’s fate and funding fears, it has now emerged that LIV Golf’s Louisiana event has been postponed.
LIV will not play its tournament at Bayou Oaks, around five miles out of New Orleans’ historic French Quarter, on the originally scheduled dates in late June, according to The Athletic and local outlet WDSU.
Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development Susan Bourgeois reached out to LIV officials demanding answers in the wake of the reports casting doubt over the league’s financial stability this month.
Bourgeois has since spoken directly to O’Neil with the pair reportedly agreeing to postpone the Louisiana event due to LIV’s changing business model following a conversation on Friday.
LIV Golf will reportedly postpone its Louisiana event amid the league’s funding fears
Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development Susan Bourgeois (pictured) reportedly spoke with LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil about the tournament last week
The $30million tournament had been scheduled for June 25 to 28 in the middle of LIV’s schedule.
The league has instead reportedly pitched the idea of restaging the event in the fall in a ‘re-envisioned’ format.
LIV’s season is currently scheduled to conclude with the team championship in Michigan at the end of August, leaving it unclear whether the Louisiana event would constitute as an official tournament or be held as a mere exhibition.
The Daily Mail has reached out to LIV Golf for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The state of Louisiana was reportedly set to spend around $7m to bring the Saudi-backed league to the New Orleans area. $2m was said to be set aside for course improvements and another $5m for hosting fees.
However, as of last week, The Athletic reports that only just over $3m had been spent, including the $2m dedicated to course improvements.
Furthermore, the two parties have reportedly agreed that LIV will return the $1.2m already received. The $2m for improvements to Bayou Oaks will reportedly be considered an acceptable improvement to a state asset.
Tour executives were summoned to an emergency meeting, while multiple agents told the Daily Mail that they were in the dark over whether the controversial venture – into which the PIF has pumped almost $6billion since 2022 – was on the brink of being abandoned amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
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Fears were raised over the future of the rebel tour amid claims that PIF could pull its funding
However, O’Neil later scrambled to reassure the league’s players and employees about its future in an email, insisting that ‘our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.’
Although the rebel circuit appears to have averted the possibility of immediate dissolution, LIV’s future, principally its viability beyond August, remains shrouded in doubt.
LIV’s Saudi Arabian backers have already pumped almost $6billion into the venture, which is only hemorrhaging millions of dollars, and are understood to be ready to call time on the hugely expensive project.
According to multiple players and agents working on the tour, the expectation is that the PIF will continue pumping in cash until the conclusion of their 2026 campaign in Michigan on August 30.
LIV’s next event is scheduled for next week and is currently set to go ahead at the president’s Trump National Golf Club just outside of Washington, D.C.
