Strained smiles and uncertainty at LIV Golf's final 2026 event in Indianapolis
LIV Golf's final event of 2026 at Chatham Hills Golf Club in Indianapolis unfolded amid deep uncertainty after the league's Saudi backers pulled funding having spent more than $5bn (£3.6bn), leaving the competition's future dependent on whether a new deal can be concluded soon.
BBC Sport visited the tournament and reported a mixture of surface-level optimism and widespread unease among players, staff and organisers; the league, launched more than four years ago as a brash breakaway circuit bankrolled by Saudi billions, has both divided opinion and split loyalties among its champions.
Multiple sources confirmed the prospective investor behind plans for a so-called "LIV 2.0" is Ted Goldthorpe, head of the credit division of BC Partners, who attended the Bedminster, New York event and was present in Indianapolis while largely avoiding public view; Scott O'Neil said Goldthorpe had been spending time "looking under the hood" and the investor met players as a group to outline a vision aimed at making LIV sustainable and ultimately profitable.
League leadership repeatedly used the phrase "LIV 2.0" to describe ambitions for a revived competition; much of the match format — shotgun starts, a team competition, loud music and party holes — is expected to remain, but executives accept the "free-spending" era is over as losses from this period are expected to have run into several billions of dollars and prize money at Indianapolis was roughly half that of previous events.
O'Neil set out commercial and structural proposals that reportedly include selling franchises and a reduced schedule of 10 events a year across five continents, with final locations likely influenced by which players remain; he said the ambition was to set LIV up so it was "built to last" and that he was focused on completing "this transaction" while acknowledging the league needs player buy-in: "The entirety of our focus is to get to this transaction and get through it. "Without the players, that becomes very difficult. I have a good level of confidence in my conversation that we'll have a critical mass of the right players to move this league forward." One team general manager told BBC Sport there was "significant interest" from investors.
Players expressed a range of reactions about their futures. Graeme McDowell described the mood among competitors as "subdued" and said: "There are 57 players out here on LIV and there are 57 different mindsets," adding: "Some guys have some exemptions in other tours, some have nowhere to go [if LIV folds]." McDowell said he would be "taking a step back" to determine his next move and that "If LIV 2.0 goes ahead, we'll look at the schedule and how it all plays out, and see if that suits me and my lifestyle." Cameron Smith said there would be a "little bit of time to think about that once the season is done" and added: "I really love LIV," saying: "It has done wonders for my family, for golf in Australia, my friends, the people that we've got to meet around the world. It would be a shame for it to be done, but we'll see what happens." Bryson DeChambeau, who declined an interview request, told BBC Sport after Thursday's first round: "We definitely have a lot against us. "If it works, it works, awesome. If it doesn't, we'll figure things out. Time will move on, and I would say that time heals things. "I hope people can see that we actually bring value to the game of golf. My wish is that people give us one more shot and be open minded." Brendan Steele said: "It feels new life has been breathed into [LIV]. There was a lot of excitement and energy in the room. "I'm committed to being here, this is where I want to be." Martin Kaymer described a players' meeting as "productive and positive" while Sergio Garcia called it "productive" and then said "we'll see" when asked about his future.
Organisational disruptions surfaced across the week: on Monday players Lee Westwood and Tyrrell Hatton were told their season would end early while on a flight from Dublin to Indianapolis; the Saudi Public Investment Fund had said it would continue funding until the season's end, yet LIV cancelled the planned team event in Michigan for financial reasons and removed live music sets from the Indianapolis weekend. BBC Sport reported the driving range emptied at 16:30 local time on Tuesday as players went to a meeting with "the investor," and they emerged about 50 minutes later with many avoiding media; there were also reports of vendors suing LIV over unpaid invoices and prize money being paid more slowly than normal, an issue BBC Sport understands has been resolved.
Once the Indianapolis tournament concludes, LIV's immediate priority will be securing a transaction to enable any LIV 2.0; options discussed internally include filing for bankruptcy, a pre-packaged insolvency or an investor settling outstanding bills. The league acknowledged that if outstanding payments — including on player contracts such as Jon Rahm, who is understood to be owed millions — were settled, then players would not be able to break those contracts early, and O'Neil said there was a deadline for players to sign up to LIV 2.0 but would not provide details; the manoeuvrings of the PGA Tour and DP World Tour are expected to be crucial to the next steps.