LIV Golf has spent 2026 fighting off one financial headache after another. Operational losses, payout delays, vendor lawsuits, and the planned withdrawal of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in early 2026 have forced the breakaway league to cancel tournaments, discuss potential U.S. bankruptcy, and rely on its players to recruit outside investors. Now, LIV has shockingly slashed the individual prize money by almost half for its latest event, LIV Golf Indianapolis, which is also the league’s last event of the year.
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Bob Harig broke down the update on X, pulling straight from LIV’s own media notes.
“According to LIV’s media notes, the purse this week in Indianapolis will have just $10 million for the individual portion, but $30 million for teams.”
Since its inception, the original prize money at LIV Indianapolis has been $20 million, with a $4 million winner’s share. The event, from August 20 to 23, determines the 2026 LIV Golf team champion. Apart from the individual purse, there’s a $10 million team prize, making the total $30 million for the week. But amid financial troubles, the breakaway league had no other option but to cut it down to just $10.1 million. It’s a steep drop from last year, when Indianapolis alone carried a $25 million purse and paid its winner $4 million.
Golf reporter David Rumsey connected the bigger picture in a follow-up post. Organizers have now compressed a $70 million event, originally planned for two weeks across Indianapolis and the season-ending team championship in Michigan, into a single $40.1 million event. That’s despite LIV doubling its per-event team purse to $10 million this year, up from $5 million in previous seasons. The change was meant to make team golf pay more, not less.
The $40.1M splits: $10.1M individual, $10M bonuses, $30M team. All of it now gets handed out this week because LIV Michigan isn’t happening.
As previously reported, LIV only recently stopped selling tickets for LIV Michigan, despite rumors of cancellation. It marked the second cancellation of the year after LIV pulled New Orleans events in June. The event calendar was already small, with only 14 events, but now it has boiled down to just 12 tournaments.
It’s no surprise that the money is being lost. The cuts trace back to LIV’s ongoing cash crunch. And the reflection was first visible on contract workers, both past and present. They claim LIV owes them money for services earlier this year, but remain unsure LIV will ever pay. LIV also outsources most of its video production, merchandising, and marketing to outside vendors. LIV has not paid even these full-time employees.
Although CEO Scott O’Neil insisted relief is coming, LIV has shared no details on its unnamed lead investor. Multiple players told The Telegraph they remain unsure whether LIV will pay the $40 million in team prizes from New York, as more than a week has passed since the event wrapped up.