LIV Golf’s financial future is no longer a background concern. Reports from experts this month confirmed what many had suspected: Saudi Arabia’s public investment fund is preparing to withdraw its backing after the 2026 season concludes, leaving the $5 billion deal facing an uncertain future. The man who built the LIV has a direct message for the man now running it, and it is that Scott O’Neil needs to move fast.

“He’s got to get out there on the street now, and he’s got to do a roadshow,” Norman said on the Dan on Golf show. “He’s got to see if he can dilute some of the PIF funding down to somewhere else.”

“Getting a U.S. financial institution coming in would be very advantageous,” he added. “No different than what’s happened with SSG and PGA Tour. Very, very advantageous for them.”

In 2024, the PGA Tour secured a commitment of up to $3 billion from Strategic Sports Group, which is a consortium of American sports owners led by Fenway Sports Group. FSG gave the PGA Tour a financial footing at a moment where it badly needed one. And maybe that’s what he is also referring to when he talks about what that will look like in practice.

On the other side of the story, Scott O’Neil has already acknowledged the reality of their situation. The interviews O’Neil conducted last week are well known. However, one of them ties to Greg Norman’s points. In a broadcast interview at the Mexico City event this week, he admitted that the league needs to raise money.

“Do you have to raise money? Probably. This is business,” O’Neil stated.

His comments followed a now-deleted interview in which he confirmed that LIV Golf is funded throughout the season. This marked a significant retreat from his earlier claims that the league had backing until 2022. Ultimately, the PIF ended up revoking its funding through 2026. Now, Scott O’Neil is exploring more options to ensure the league’s survival.

The situation is challenging, and not all potential investors are interested. Reports from Mark Shapiro, the president of TKO Group Holdings, confirmed this week that neither TKO nor its affiliated company, Mari, has any intention of investing in LIV. This serves as a clear indication of the difficulties Scott may encounter in the days ahead.

But none of that seems to be dispiriting the league. The league has tried to go with the project “forward momentum” regardless. During the final round in Mexico City, LIV confirmed it will return to Club de Golf Chapultepec in 2027.

The funding is being done with local partners Grupo Salinas, reaffirming their commitment to the event. Eight tournaments remain on the 2026 schedule, five of them in the United States, the market that LIV Golf has never fully cracked, and the same market Norman is now pointing O’Neil towards for answers.

However, what Norman is prescribing as urgent advice is, in fact, already underway, just not yet producing results.

Scott O’Neil is already looking, but not all the doors are opening for LIV Golf

Back in January 2026, LIV Golf hired Citigroup to run minority stake sales in two of its 13 teams, targeting valuations of up to $300 million per franchise. The process has involved conversations with private equity funds, family offices, and individual investors.

The league’s broader ambition is perhaps to build each of its 13 franchises into billion-dollar assets, a vision O’Neil has repeatedly leaned on as a long-term case for LIV’s survival without Saudi money. But the gap between ambition and reality is becoming harder to ignore.

The Citi process has not produced a completed deal, and the TKO rebuff this week is a reminder that the U.S. sports and entertainment world is not automatically receptive.

LIV Golf reported losses of $461.8 million in 2024 on revenue of just $64.9 million. Convincing outside investors to step in as the PIF steps back into the league, burning through cash with its biggest stars, like Bryson DeChambeau, in question, is a different proposition than the roadshow Norman makes it sound.

Despite securing funding, LIV Golf is actively working to connect not only with investors but also with fans and audiences. Recently, on April 21, LIV Golf announced that Smash GC will officially be rebranded as OKGC, becoming the league’s first franchise aligned with a specific U.S. state. You guessed it—Oklahoma.

This rebranding is part of a larger strategy aimed at building stronger regional identities and enhancing fan engagement and commercial connections within its team-based model. The newly rebranded team is expected to make its competitive debut at the LIV Golf Virginia event, bringing its Oklahoma identity to the nation’s capital as part of the 2026 season.

A year has now passed, but the key to transforming the entire league lies in the remainder of 2026. Norman has shared his strategy, and it seems he is aligned with that vision. However, whether the market will agree with all these developments is another question altogether.