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Mark Schlabach
Multiple Authors
LIV Golf’s scheduled tournament in New Orleans in late June will be postponed as the league continues to attempt to secure additional funding after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund pulled back its commitment to keep financing the breakaway circuit.
The tournament was scheduled to be played June 25-28 at Bayou Oaks at City Park in Louisiana, but now officials are looking at a possible fall date.
A joint statement from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry and Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois on Tuesday said LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil had informed them of the postponement on Friday after Bourgeois had pressed LIV Golf officials for a decision in the past couple of weeks.
“We appreciate LIV’s good-faith efforts and look forward to maintaining our partnership as we continue conversations around an event later this year,” the joint statement from Landry and Bourgeois said.
Louisiana had already spent $2 million on course improvements to host the LIV Golf tournament and sources told ESPN that it was prepared to spend another $5 million. The joint statement said LIV Golf has agreed to return $1.2 million it has already received from the state.
“We are grateful for the work of our local partners and the collaboration that supported this effort,” the joint statement said. “Louisiana continues to move forward with strong momentum and we remain focused on opportunities that deliver value for our communities.”
LIV Golf sources said the league is seeking to avoid peak summer heat, ensure the course is in championship-caliber condition and avoid attendance and TV viewership conflicts with the World Cup.
However, LIV Golf’s future remains in question after the PIF reportedly pulled its funding beyond this season. On April 15, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil told staff in an email that the 2026 season “continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle.”
The next LIV Golf tournament is scheduled to be played May 7-10 at Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, which is owned by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The PIF has invested more than $5 billion into the league since its inception in 2022, reportedly spending $100 million per month during the past three-plus years. Much of that money was spent on golfers’ contracts and tournament purses, which increased from $25 million to $30 million this season. The extra $5 million went toward team purses.
Earlier this month, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and PIF chairman Mohammed bin Salman approved a five-year strategic plan for the sovereign wealth fund that focused on domestic initiatives. The plan didn’t mention LIV Golf.
LIV Golf has seven remaining tournaments this season, including four in the United States.
“The reality is you’re funded through the season and then you work like crazy as a business to create a business and a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said during last week’s broadcast of the opening round of LIV Golf’s tournament in Mexico City. “But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of man.”
