Yasir Al-Rumayyan leaving board of LIV Golf as Saudi funding dries up, report says

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Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the governor of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund who was behind the creation of LIV Golf, is resigning as LIV chairman as the league seeks a new strategy without Saudi funding, according to a report published Wednesday night.

Sports Business Journal cited three people briefed on the resignation. LIV Golf was planning to announce Thursday a strategy for moving forward without its primary financial backer, including a new board and plans to seek outside financial partners.

LIV Golf did not immediately comment. Any decisions involving Al-Rumayyan would likely come from the PIF, which he has governed since 2015.

Al-Rumayyan is passionate about golf and long wanted a seat at the table with the sport's leadership. He signed a framework agreement in 2023 with the PGA Tour and European tour and was set to join the PGA Tour Enterprises board if it was approved.

The deal never materialized, except for ending antitrust lawsuits. PGA Tour Enterprises instead got a minority investment from a consortium of North American sports owners.

Scott O'Neil, who replaced Greg Norman last year as CEO of LIV Golf, had told London-based TNT two weeks ago during LIV's Mexico City event that Saudi funding was good through the 2026 season and he would “work like crazy” to create a solid business plan.

That raised questions about whether LIV Golf could keep some of its top players once their lucrative contracts expired. With financial muscle from Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, LIV was able to spend $1 billion to land the likes of Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Cameron Smith and eventually Jon Rahm, the last big signing at the end of 2023.

The newsletter Money in Sport reported earlier this year that LIV Golf already had spent $5 billion since the league launched in 2022, a figure that would be $6 billion by the end of this year.

Players have been aware Saudi funding would not be available after this season. DeChambeau said in an interview with the Flushing It social media site that “as long as LIV is here, I would figure out a way for it to make sense.”

“There’s a lot of moving parts like in any business,” DeChambeau said. “It’s a startup, right? And so there’s going to be times where we’re squeezed and punched. This is one of those moments. But I’m going to do everything in my power to make it work and I really see the value in franchise golf.”

LIV Golf earlier this week said it was postponing its June 25-28 event in Louisiana to the fall. The next event is scheduled for May 7-10 in northern Virginia, and O'Neil had said in a memo to staff two weeks ago the season would be uninterrupted and “full throttle.”

But the league that now offers $30 million in prize money at each event already is trying to chart a course for staying solvent after this year.

LIV plans to announce a new board and share plans to reposition the league for 2027 and beyond, though that likely would be with fewer than the 14 events on this year's schedule. It also plans to lean into the concept of team franchises.

Al-Rumayyan was all about team golf when he and Norman launched the league, even though the team concept was one reason it took more than three years for LIV to get recognized by the Official World Golf Ranking.

Koepka left LIV after last season and the PGA Tour granted him a path back with stipulations that included no access to equity grants for five years, a $5 million charity donation and no bonus money this year.

The tour offered it to three other LIV players who had won majors since 2022 — Rahm, DeChambeau and Smith — and gave them a Feb. 4 to accept. None did.

In an interview earlier this week with The Wall Street Journal, PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp said, “We’re interested in having the best players who can help our tour. Not every player can do that.”

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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf