Just as the narrative of decline began to stick, LIV Golf is preparing a major counterpunch in the sponsorship arena. For a significant while, it seemed like the Saudi-backed league might be losing momentum. Some star players left, and there was a lot of uncertainty around its future. However, things have been different since Scott O’Neil stepped in, and now LIV Golf appears ready to secure a major partnership with a luxury brand.

According to a report from Josh Carpenter on X, the LIV President Chris Heck, has just made a huge announcement. 

“We have an elite, if not the elite, timepiece that we are going to announce shortly.” Chris Heck said. “We have a number of global iconic brands that will be aligning themselves with LIV Golf, and it’s super exciting. We’re on a path that I don’t think is comparable, to be honest with you, at least in my 30-plus-year career.”

Additionally, the rumors of the unnamed new partner being Rolex have further gained steam due to one particular observation. In fact, Scott O’Neil was also seen taking meetings with some of Rolex’s top sponsorship executives at Oakmont last June.

If this partnership indeed turns out to be Rolex, then the LIV will get a huge boost. 

Rolex is already a major part of the PGA Tour. The company acts as the official timekeeper for FedEx St. Jude, the BMW Championship, the TOUR Championship, and THE PLAYERS Championship.

So, such a top brand joining hands with the ‘unauthorized’ league would do a world of good. Moreover, if Rolex comes in, it will join an elite line of LIV partners like HSBC, Qualcomm, MGM Resorts, and more. 

The latest update from Heck will also come as a relief, as the LIV was seemingly struggling in recent times. Last year, the league was stunned to find out that one of its key stars, Brooks Koepka, parted ways.

And this was despite him having a full year of contract left with the league. Following Koepka’s exit, he has now joined the PGA. While the noise got louder about the LIV seemingly lagging behind, the latest announcement will pacify things to a large extent. And to further put the smiles back on the LIV Golf fans’ faces, O’Neil recently delivered more good news.

LIV Golf ceased to comply with the DP World Tour fines

Till mid-2025, the Saudi-backed league paid the fines imposed by the DP World Tour on their team players. As far as the DP World Tour rule goes, a player from the unauthorized league has to pay a hefty penalty to continue being a DP World member. And till now, it was the LIV who abided by the same. However, with some rapid changes coming in, the Saudi-backed league refused to comply with the same since mid-2025. 

Now, such a decision had a large impact on the golfer’s career. It was because of the fines being paid from time to time that players like Tyrrell Hatton, Adrian Meronk, Jon Rahm, and Tom McKibbin were able to play the Ryder Cup.

But once these fines didn’t keep coming in, the Ryder Cup eligibility of the star golfers was in jeopardy. Till now, the LIV has reportedly paid fines worth 15 million euros. Unfortunately, a hefty sum of fines is still left to be cleared. 

And this is exactly what led to Rahm and Hatton challenging the decision of the DP World Tour. Refusing to pay the fines, the two golfers appealed against the ruling. Such an action froze the suspension rule for a temporary period, allowing Rahm to play in last year’s Ryder Cup.

But as per the DP World Tour’s statement, they are quite clear on making the players clear their pending dues. Thus, with things looking pretty complicated, fans are now eager to find out what happens next.