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LIV Golf is ending its season one week earlier than planned, announcing Monday it will not hold the team championship in metro Detroit next week and instead crown the team champion this week 20 miles north of Indianapolis.
The 12 events this year -- New Orleans was previously postponed -- is the smallest schedule for LIV since it was launched with massive Saudi Arabia funding in 2022 and featured eight tournaments.
Jon Rahm already has clinched the individual season title for the third straight year. LIV Golf Indianapolis, which starts Thursday at The Club at Chatham Hills, will determine who finishes second and third among the players, and the top team.
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, the financial muscle of the rival league from the start, decided in March this would be the final year of funding. LIV Golf announced earlier this month it has an agreement with a lead investor that would sustain a new version of the league for 2027.
“By concluding the season now, we can put our full resources behind what comes next and maintain the operational rigor this transition demands,” LIV CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement.
The cancellation of LIV Golf Michigan at The Cardinal at Saint John’s in Plymouth was not surprising. There have been reports in recent weeks the tournament had not even started preparing with grandstands and other amenities. LIV Golf said ticket holders would get refunds.
The final event with a $20 million purse that pays $4 million to the winner could be the last big payoff for LIV and its 57 players. LIV did not identify the lead investor or how much of a cash infusion was involved, or say whether it was an investment or a loan.
O’Neil has said the LIV 2.0 version for 2027 and onward would involve making players equity owners. He referred to it as a “second bite at the apple” being equity instead of cash.