When LIV Golf came into existence about four years ago, everyone wondered who would leave the PGA Tour. With Saudi Arabia’s sovereign fund, PIF, cutting ties, everyone is now questioning who would return. The trend started earlier this year when Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed left LIV to return to the American circuit. Then, the PGA Tour of America added clauses to its conditions, like the Returning Members Program. But the tables have now turned.

Now, the question stands: When the LIV golfers like Jon Rahm no longer have their league, will they return? And if they do, will the Tour amend its rules again? One piece of news that broke Wednesday turned into a bedlam at Trump National Doral. As for the future? Honestly, nobody knows. That’s what Jordan Spieth tried to convey as well at the 2026 Cadillac Championship.

“I’m not sure if it should be the same for everyone,” Spieth told the media on Thursday. “I know olive branches were given out, you know, a couple of months ago. Brooks took ’em up on it. So I’m not sure what would now change. Obviously, with it—and I don’t even know—that doesn’t necessarily mean that LIV’s not going to still move on, too.

“I think there are just too many unknowns for me to have a good gauge on what would happen there.”

Ahead of the Cadillac Championship, ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti’s sources confirmed that multiple representatives for LIV Golf players reached out the PGA Tour officials to explore a path back. It is also believed that LIV Golf will inform the rest of the players, apart from team captains, who already knew about it, that PIF’s funding will stop at season’s end.

That puts the league’s future in a blur. But a return is also just as hazy, as Spieth further questioned:

“But I think, if there’s a system for Brooks and a system for Patrick Reed, does that stay the same for guys in the same category as those two coming back, or does it change now? Does it change for guys who sued and dropped their membership? There’s just a lot of different things that happened over the last four years for that. I’m kind of glad I’m not in that room, and I trust the guys that are in that room to make the right decision.”

And many unknowns there certainly are.

“We’re interested in having the best players who can help our tour,” Rolapp told The Wall Street Journal in its story published Wednesday. “Not every player can do that.”

Although the very essence of LIV Golf was created by the golfers with star power, those conditions don’t apply to the PGA Tour. But we can already think of some factors that could influence its final decision:

• One thing is for certain: the Tour might only welcome back specific players.
• Their past performances.
• Did a player resign his membership, or didn’t (Reed did, for example).
• Whether he played on tour or had status at all.
• Was he involved in the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.

Although the antitrust lawsuit was filed in 2022 and dismissed a year later, many on the Tour have scar tissue. If a player involved in it wishes to return, he might be liable to an intense punishment, too. And leading those names would be Bryson DeChambeau.

It is important to remember that he and Rahm were allowed to return, alongside Brooks Koepka, under the Returning Member Program. However, both the LIV Golf team captains decided against it.

Patrick Reed was given an alternate route to return by completing the year’s suspension. While he gladly accepted it, stars like Rahm and DeChambeau might not be as eager to do so. Then there are the remaining 10 players who sued the PGA Tour, including the likes of Phil Mickelson and Ian Poulter.

That said, it all boils down to what options Rolapp wants to give these players. There are some ways I discussed in my column on EssentiallySports. But whether any of them will be put to action depends on whether LIV Golf ceases to exist. And judging by a few other reports coming from them, they might be able to sustain.

Is this the end of LIV Golf?

When LIV began at Centurion Club in June 2022, it introduced no cuts, shotgun starts, but especially, guaranteed huge contracts. These changes altered the financial structure of professional golf.

LIV signed the likes of Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau, and later Jon Rahm. But the financial stress on the league only burdened it.

The league’s operating loss increased by 39% from its first to second year, rising from $244 million to $394 million. Broadcasting rights made up only 8% of total revenue. Only an average of 23,000 viewers were accounted for over four rounds of the 2026 season opener in Riyadh. However, PIF’s decision to exit is part of a larger shift.

The fund’s strategy for the next five years now focuses on domestic Saudi investments instead of international projects. LIV, which lost over $1 billion from 2022 to 2024, did not meet the new criteria and was cut.

With PIF pulling the plug, it may seem like LIV Golf is certainly dying. However, other partners haven’t stopped trusting the product yet.

Just a few hours ago, Sony Pictures Networks India signed a huge deal with LIV Golf. They will broadcast LIV Golf events in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. The network will cover every LIV Golf event in 2026 across all these nations live.

LIV Golf has also earned the trust of multiple venue partners like the hosts for Andalucia, South Africa, and Mexico. They have confirmed the return of the league to the 2027 calendar, and one of them has also promised to extend their contract with LIV Golf. For now, LIV hangs by a thread. But would the golfers continue to stay in a boat that is clearly sinking?