Rory McIlroy might have been blindsided by the $3 billion merger between the PGA Tour and LIV announced in 2023, but that was not the case regarding PIF pulling LIV’s funding. Apparently, he had known it since March.

“I feel like a lot of us in this room, including me, we almost knew before the players did that this was going to happen,” Rory McIlroy told the media. “I was hearing about this back in March, April time. I have friends over there.”

“One of my best friends, Ricky, caddies for Tom McKibbin, who’s over there, and I would talk to him all the time about what was going on. I was saying to Ricky, even before Mexico, ‘Have you guys heard any of this stuff?’ He was like, ‘No, everything seems okay over here.’ It just feels like the rug was pulled from under their feet, and everyone was sort of blindsided by it.”

Rory McIlroy’s take on LIV is not new. Back in 2023, when the PGA Tour announced a framework agreement with PIF, he went as far as saying, “I hope it goes away.” By 2024, he had made peace with LIV Golf’s existence, but never with its logic. Then, as 2025 approached, McIlroy wanted unification and wanted all the best players together for the game’s sake. But just last week at the Truist Championship, he delivered what may be his most cutting observation yet.

“When one of the wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world thinks that you’re too expensive for them, that sort of says something.”

PIF had poured over $5 billion into LIV Golf since 2022, absorbing annual losses of $500 million to $600 million, with no realistic path to profitability within five years. But the geopolitical shift is the real story.

The Iran conflict has forced Saudi Arabia to reprioritise defence spending and domestic investment, with the 2034 World Cup bill still ahead. As financial analyst Ian Whittaker noted, when the region looked stable, the kingdom was willing to underwrite prestigious assets that might never pay it back, but now that patience has disappeared. Notably, LIV Golf was not the only casualty.

Al-Hilal was sold, the WTA Finals deal was not renewed, the Saudi Snooker Masters were cancelled two years into a ten-year deal, and the 2035 Rugby World Cup bid was reportedly dropped. Newcastle, F1, and combat sports survive because they are expected to deliver returns. The legal implications are just as significant.

Player contracts built on large guarantees obviously become vulnerable the moment funding wavers. There may even be disputes over termination rights and payment timing. Reinstatement to the PGA Tour is obviously not getting easier. The one-time Returning Member Program closed February 2, 2026, and anyone outside its narrow criteria now faces materially worse terms.

McIlroy saw it coming, sure, but so did LIV Golf’s boardroom, as it tells a far more urgent story.

Urgent leadership change in LIV Golf

Within days of PIF’s exit, LIV Golf has replaced three directors, hired two turnaround consultants, retained a bankruptcy-experienced law firm, and brought in an investment bank. According to filings released May 11, 2026, Eugene Davis and Jon Zinman have taken over director positions at four U.K. holding companies effective May 4. These are the same entities that recorded $461.8 million in losses from LIV’s non-U.S. operations in 2024 alone.

Both men now oversee financial accountability and future forecasting. Davis runs Pirinate Consulting Group, which specializes in turnaround management. Zinman’s JZ Advisors works with companies in reorganization and post-bankruptcy situations. Neither profile suggests routine housekeeping.

Three directors were removed the same day: Ross Hallett, Jake Jones, and longtime general counsel Louise Savage, who had held her position since February 2022. Hallett and Jones had only joined in January 2026, replacing Greg Norman and finance chief Tim Taylor.

With LIV Golf’s future hanging in the balance, it is doing everything it can to keep going. The players like Bryson DeChambeau are not losing hope and are even attending meetings with Scott O’Neil.