LIV Golf has the money and has kept spending it without blinking. They recently got a boost that is almost at the $6B figure. But the reaction that followed was not one of optimism. It was a pointed reminder that writing bigger checks has never been the league’s problem, and something far more fundamental still is.

The Saudi Public Investment Fund approved $267M capital injection on February 1, 2026, pushing its total investment in LIV Golf to $5.3 billion. SBJ journalist Josh Carpenter broke the news on X, and it drew immediate backlash. The announcement read less as a sign of momentum and more as confirmation that the league still cannot function without a financial lifeline, nearly four years after launch.

And the numbers behind it explain why the backlash was immediate.

LIV Golf burned through roughly $100 million per month across 2024 and 2025, financed entirely by PIF rather than any revenue the league generated itself. The league also reported a steep $1.4 billion loss toward the end of 2025, raising serious questions about its financial trajectory.

At the current burn rate, cumulative spending will cross $6 billion before 2026 is done. The 2026 prize fund has added further pressure, with per-tournament payouts rising from $25 million to $32.3 million, putting an additional $65 million annually onto an already strained cost base.

News served to you like never before!

Prefer us on Google, To get latest news on feed

Prefer Us on Google

Well, the viewership makes it even harder to ignore.

LIV’s 2026 season opener in Riyadh averaged just 23,000 viewers across four rounds. Adelaide followed, and despite Anthony Kim’s emotionally charged win, the event averaged only 105,000 viewers across four days on three channels. That same month, the PGA Tour’s WM Phoenix Open drew nearly 5M viewers in a single final round, up 32 percent year on year. More money has not moved that needle, and nothing in the latest announcement suggests it will.

That gap connects directly to what Jon Rahm raised after the Riyadh opener. The OWGR announced in February 2026 that it would award points to LIV golf events but would limit them to the top 10 finishers.

Rahm acknowledged the partial progress but was direct about its limits.

“It’s fantastic that we’re being recognized,” he told reporters, “but I don’t like how we’re not being treated the same as every other tour. With only 10 of us getting points, it doesn’t seem fair. There’s work to be done.”

He also noted that finishing 11th now effectively hurts a player’s ranking, adding to the divisor without generating any points. Rankings, reach, and revenue remain the three things PIF cannot simply fund its way out of. And the fans aren’t shying away from calling it out.

Fans were not buying it, and they made that very clear

The funding news did not land as a confidence boost. It landed as a flashpoint, with fans cutting straight to what the money still cannot fix.

“Anthony Kim’s comeback win is the only good thing to come out of LIV Golf so far,” one fan wrote. Kim’s return after more than a decade away was the league’s most compelling storyline in years. Without it, Adelaide was just another event on a calendar that has yet to produce a consistently organic star who drives audiences back week after week.

“Money is the only thing supporting LIV. Not one player would have joined without gobs of money,” said another fan. LIV’s 2026 format changes, including expanded Q-school qualifications and a restructuring of the prize fund, were designed to signal growth. But structural reform means little when the foundation is a monthly capital injection rather than earned revenue.

“Just enough to cover Bryson’s new contract,” read another reaction. DeChambeau is seeking a reported $500 million over four years, making him the highest-paid golfer in history. His original deal exceeded $125 million, money he called “a little low” at the time.

“Bad investment. The best players and historic venues are on the PGA Tour,” a user commented. LIV Golf has never staged an event at a major championship venue. While the PGA Tour’s calendar runs through Augusta, Pebble Beach, and Riviera, the courses that carry weight with both casual and core golf audiences.

“Just keep writing checks but you’ll never be the PGA,” was another reaction. Saudi Vision 2030 may keep PIF committed regardless of losses, but commercial legitimacy requires an audience, and that is the one thing no capital injection has ever guaranteed.

The money keeps coming, but the numbers keep exposing the same problem. LIV Golf’s latest funding round solves a cash flow issue. It does not solve the bigger one.