In the new era of LIV, everyone (even Bryson!) has the same question

STERLING, Va. – Is this the beginning of the end?

Or the beginning of one new the beginning?

On a steamy Tuesday here at President Trump’s Washington, D.C.-area clubhouse, where a giant white colonial-style clubhouse towers over the property like a ski lodge perched on the side of a mountain, it was THE The question on everyone’s mind is LIV Golf’s first event since its financiers, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, announced it would withdraw its billions at the close of the 2026 season.

You can smelt the buzz about LIV’s uncertain future, from the players, the corpses, the media, the staff, the volunteers driving the carts to the dizzying climb to the club. Even from the league’s biggest star, who said he was as blind as the rest of the golfing world when reports began to surface in mid-April the league he had helped put on the map was suddenly in crisis.

“Same day as everybody else,” Bryson DeChambeau told GOLF.com when he learned of the PIF’s decision. “I didn’t know. It was too soon.”

When DeChambeau got the news — via LIV CEO Scott O’Neil He said his immediate reaction was: “There is no way. This is impossible, given what I had heard a few months ago. I thought there was a plan until 2032. It was a twist of passage.

“I wish (PIF) the best of luck. I wish they would have stayed a little longer because we’re really close on the team side, for any team that’s profitable.”

like close is hard to know. O’Neil has said he expects 10 of LIV’s 13 teams to make a profit this season, but the finer points of how those teams will get there have never been determined. LIV was also working towards selling stakes in its teams and said it had appointed Citi to find buyers. In February, O’Neil told him Financial Times“There is a long-term commitment to this business, that is beyond doubt.”

If you have heard O’Neil’s long and sometimes rambling press conference On Tuesday morning, there is no doubt that there is still commitment, just not from PIF; now it’s coming from O’Neil and the fleet of bankers and advisers he’s recruited to help him find new investors for his five-year-old league. It’s a tall order, but one O’Neil says he’s ready to embrace.

“Guys, remember, when my phone rings, it’s never like everything’s going well,” O’Neil, who ran professional sports teams and entertainment companies before joining LIV, told the media Tuesday morning. “I’m not a status quo manager. I never have been. Like that’s what I do … so it would be naive to be surprised and it would be irresponsible to think anything other than how far we have to go to make sure we can continue to grow this game around the world.”

O’Neil declined to say whether he was surprised by the PIF exit, but said “it was very clear 18 months ago that for this to be a growing concern, we would have to make significant and fundamental changes to the way we do business.”

Speaking of growing concerns, a veteran pro told me on Tuesday that there is a sense of “worry” among LIV players, especially those less established players who, if LIV didn’t survive, could find themselves with nowhere to play, at least in the short term. There is also a possibility that the league will continue, but with smaller purses and contracts. “I believe that for the business plan to change, whatever they come up with, there will have to be some concessions on our part.” Jon Rahm said at his press conference on Tuesday with his three Legion XIII teammates, Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Caleb Surratt.

When Surratt, who is 22, was asked if he would be willing to make concessions, he said: “I don’t think any of us know what those concessions might be or if there will be any, right? I think there’s a lot of ways it could go. For me, when I say I’m looking forward to the future, I’m just thinking about my career and my best path.” No matter what the tour involves, my goal is to be in the majors and win the majors one day, and I know that when I get there, I’ll be more prepared for that moment because I’ve spent so many years out here, no matter what happens or what concessions I have to make.”

Out hereon Tuesday, it looked much the same as past LIV events; there were no visible signs of financial obligation. DeChambeau, hot off a morning visit to the White House, entertained LIV’s partners with a shoot session on the range; the short game practice area was surrounded by signage from league supporters (HSBC, Maaden and Trackman among them); and two-story corporate suites lined the 18th fairway leading to a green backed by a 100-foot man-made waterfall.

As the afternoon melted into evening, DeChambeau was still on the practice green, but most of his peers had left. Duty called, in the form of an off-site meeting of the players on Tuesday evening.

I asked DeChambeau if the energy around LIV and its tournaments feels different with so much uncertainty about the future of the league.

“You can always look at it a lot of ways; I see it as an opportunity,” DeChambeau said. “Every time one door closes, another one opens. I don’t think if one door closes, you’re just closed forever. For us, that’s the opportunity we have in this country and also internationally, the freedom and the opportunity to build businesses. If it’s restructured the right way and people see the value of team golf and I want to be part of something special there.”