Strained smiles and uncertainty - the strange end of LIV Golf 1.0

Key Highlights

• LIV Golf said revenue grew by more than100% from 2024 to 2025, and the first half of 2026 suggested this would increase again.
• Goldthorpe attended LIV's most recent event in Bedminster, New York, and O'Neil said he was spending time "looking under the hood" of the league.
• A brash breakaway league, bankrolled by Saudi Arabian billions, luring top players with promises of big money.
• LIV said 30% of its event-goers had never attended a professional golf event before.
• Another said "it will get worse before it gets better".

Image source, Getty ImagesBySports News Correspondent in IndianaIt's been more than four years since the launch of LIV Golf rocked the game.

A brash breakaway league, bankrolled by Saudi Arabian billions, luring top players with promises of big money.

Still it divides opinion in golf, and has split the loyalty of its champions.

But it could all come to an end soon.

After the League's Saudi backers pulled its funding - having spent more than $5bn (£3.

6bn) - this week's abortive season finale could be the end.

That's unless a new deal is struck, soon.

BBC Sport visited the final event of 2026 at an exclusive golf club in Indianapolis, and found a strange atmosphere of surface-level optimism, but deep uncertainty.

Get ready for LIV 2.

0...

or the end?

LIV staff have learnt to put on a brave face.

And that was no more necessary than this week at Chatham Hills Golf Club.

Despite endless questions about the future, they still had a tournament to host, and LIV Golf's white knight was in town - "the investor", as he was most frequently described.

The phrase "LIV 2.

0" was used on countless occasions by the league's leadership - and that is the dream they are clinging to.

It stands for a new chapter, a second life for LIV.

There did appear to be genuine optimism that a deal could be struck.

LIV Golf chief executive officer Scott O'Neil believes he can pull off the near-impossible, and so do many of those closest to him.

But there was widespread acknowledgement that, if they do achieve it, the process to get there won't be easy.

One insider remarked "it's darkest before dawn".

Another said "it will get worse before it gets better".

Work is said to be happening at "breakneck speed" behind the scenes, because of the pressure of players needing clarity on their futures, events needing to be organised, and sponsorships agreed.

However, there were players, caddies, staff and volunteers who shared a more pessimistic view with BBC Sport, with one describing it as the "last hurrah".

One senior figure within golf's media remarked: "We're at the hospice, not the funeral.

"What would new era of LIV look like?

Image source, Getty Images

Much of the format is expected to stay the same in any new LIV - a shotgun start, team competition, music blaring from speakers and party holes.

But change will be felt in the boardrooms and in players' pockets.

BBC Sport has had it confirmed by multiple sources that the prospective investor behind plans for LIV 2.0 is Ted Goldthorpe, head of the credit division of international investment firm BC Partners.

Originally reported by BBC Sport. TechVeb news desk.