LIV Golf CEO admits funding will end this season in since-deleted video

It’s been a week to forget for LIV Golf.

Rumors were rife that the breakaway league’s demise was imminent after executives were called in for an emergency meeting in New York on Monday.

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Then, with LIV Mexico going ahead as planned, the coverage of the competition made the headlines with technical difficulties seeing the broadcast cut out for viewers just minutes after it began.

Then on Friday, one of LIV’s most high-profile stars Bryson DeChambeau was captured in a fit of rage over the playing conditions at Club de Golf Chapultepec.

He made claims that the grass was ‘destroyed’ in what wasn’t the first time he had aired his grievances about the course conditions in South America.

O’Neil’s admission pulled from social media

Amid the recent week’s chaos and rumors that Saudi Arabia‘s Public Investment fund (PIF) is set to pull the plug, some could be forgiven for believing that nothing else could possibly happen.

But, CEO Scott O’Neil was very candid over the league’s future beyond the 2026 season in an interview with TNT Sports UK that was posted on X before later being deleted

“The reality is that you’re funded through the season, and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said in the now-removed interview, per The New York Post.

“But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.”

According to a report from The Athletic, TNT Sports’ sound bite omitted O’Neil’s comments over future funding of the league.

These comments follow on after an email from O’Neil to staff was leaked email.

“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neil wrote in the email.

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“While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass.

“We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.

“The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo.

“We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we’ve answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports.”

After the Mexico City event concludes, LIV has just eight more tournaments remaining of the season, with the finale coming on August 30 in Michigan.

It remains to be seen what lies in store for Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia, Tyrell Hatton and co past this season, with them surely wondering if they will have to put their tails between their legs and plead forgiveness for their green and return to the PGA Tour.

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