When the news first broke that LIV Golf was about to lose its financial backing, Thomas Pieters was ready to walk away from the game entirely. Three months on, the Belgian is still playing, still hopeful, and still willing to fight for his career if it comes to that. LIV Golf returned to JCB Golf & Country Club last week, still facing its potential demise after Saudi Arabia’s PIF decided to pull funding from the breakaway league, with CEO Scott O’Neil still looking for investors to pour around $350 million into the league. Amid all that uncertainty, Pieters spoke to Today’s Golfer about LIV Golf’s uncertain future, and what he’s willing to do to keep playing.

The moment came in Mexico, where Pieters described a “grim atmosphere” among players as rumors of the funding pullout spread. Three months later, he’s made peace with what may come.

“If LIV doesn’t exist, I have to prove my way back on the tour,” he said. “I have to prove that I can win and then go on to majors. It’s kind of the consequences, right? We all came here for a reason, and if it doesn’t exist anymore, then it’s life.”

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Pieters has no remaining status on the DP World Tour, and if LIV doesn’t survive, he’ll need to enter Q School this winter for a place back in Europe. It’s no formality: three stages and 252 holes typically pare a field of well over a thousand down to just 20 to 25 cards, one of the toughest qualifying tests in golf. He’s at ease with that too.

“I don’t have an ego,” he said. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to play. I’m going to try and get invites, but I don’t want to get a freebie. I want to earn my way back because I don’t want anybody on the DP World Tour to say, ‘Oh, he’s getting his status back.’ I want to do it the proper way if I go back. There’s still golf in me. I still think I can compete with the best, but I’ve got to prove a lot of things before I can do that, before I get back into majors.”

Before coming to LIV in February 2023, Thomas Pieters secured six career victories on the European circuit and represented Europe in the 2016 Ryder Cup. His latest start, a tie for 23rd at LIV Golf UK, came while playing through a fractured rib.

But some reports suggest the season-ending Team Championship might not even happen due to the funding issues, only deepening the doubts around LIV’s future. PIF’s decision, confirmed in April, wasn’t isolated to LIV: it came amid a broader pullback in the fund’s sports spending, and followed roughly $5 billion invested in the league since 2022 against reported annual losses near $600 million. O’Neil’s $350 million target covers only a fraction of what a full season has historically cost. Even if the DP World Tour option doesn’t work out, Pieters is willing to play the HotelPlanner Tour if and when the invitation comes.

Pieters isn’t the only one looking for a way back into the European Tour. Lee Westwood and Ian Poulter have paid $1 million fines for a road back to Europe, and Martin Kaymer has also claimed that he intends to recover his DP World Tour card. They’re not alone: seven current LIV players have reportedly told colleagues they plan to leave the league at season’s end regardless of whether new funding materializes, on top of the ten who already departed before this season even began. While these LIV Golf players plot their exits, LIV has suffered multiple other blows.

LIV Golf loses partnership amid lawsuits

LIV Golf has suffered another major setback as the breakaway league faces mounting financial uncertainty and a growing list of legal battles. The latest blow came when the Asian Tour partnered with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. This ended a relationship that had been crucial to LIV’s player pathways and promotion-relegation system.

Canadian technology company Mobii Systems Group is seeking more than $1 million over allegedly unpaid invoices and lost revenue. And don’t forget, the World Golf Group and Premier Golf League are seeking between $210 million and $630 million, accusing LIV and its backers of misappropriating confidential ideas. In the meantime, LIV has managed to settle one of its disputes.

LIV has settled a separate $1 million trademark dispute with Stinger Golf. While Pieters seems to have a plan, others may struggle to find one, and LIV’s list of open problems keeps growing.