By Andrew Beaton

Back in April, when Saudi Arabia's sovereign-wealth fund decided to cut its funding for LIV Golf at the end of the season, chief executive Scott O'Neil projected confidence that the league would complete its schedule while it searched for new investors.

"Our season continues exactly as planned," O'Neil wrote to staff, "uninterrupted and at full throttle."

Now, the season is on the brink of falling apart. People familiar with the matter said that LIV is on the verge of canceling its team championship, the final event on the schedule and a tournament once touted as LIV's crown jewel. The event was set to be held at the end of August at The Cardinal at Saint John's outside of Detroit, with $40 million in prize money on the line.

The decision marks the latest sign of LIV's dimming future ever since Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund pulled out of the league it started and lavishly backed. With more than $5 billion poured in by the Kingdom, LIV had lured away marquee names from the PGA Tour such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm, two of the best players in the sport. But as this upstart took on the PGA Tour, LIV struggled to gain a commercial foothold and hemorrhaged money after teeing off in 2022.

This marks just the latest recent blow for LIV. Last week, the Asian Tour agreed to partner with the PGA Tour and Europe's DP World Tour, which already had an existing alliance. In its early days, LIV had pumped $300 million into the Asian Tour to create an international series of events, but now its main ally has joined up with the other side of the golf world's divide.

Since PIF's decision to cut the cord, O'Neil has sought hundreds of millions of dollars to fund LIV into 2027 and beyond. Many in the industry, though, have been skeptical that the circuit could be kept together in anything resembling its current form given the exorbitant costs and tepid fan interest.

Those costs come in the form of unprecedented player contracts and tournament prize funds that shook the sport. None of those has been as lucrative as the annual team championship. Last year's event offered a golf-record $50 million, while this season's was supposed to have $40 million up for grabs.

Team golf was the most significant way in which LIV sought to differentiate itself. In most of the events, the players compete as both individuals and on teams of four, with some prize money awarded to both competitions. Yet teams with names such as Cleeks and RangeGoats never exactly caught on. LIV's end-of-season finale stands out as its lone team-only event.

Before the team championship, LIV's 2026 schedule has two more tournaments, including one at President Trump's course in Bedminster, N.J., and both are expected to be played, one of the people familiar said.

After that, LIV's players face an uncertain future with the prospect of the league dramatically scaling back its operations or shutting down entirely in 2027.

Write to Andrew Beaton at andrew.beaton@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 29, 2026 10:00 ET (14:00 GMT)