SI:AM | Another Nail in LIV Golf’s Coffin

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. This week’s news has me thinking about all my favorite LIV Golf moments, like ________ and _________. And who could forget when _______? Good times.

In today’s SI:AM:
👋 LIV Golf’s last gasp
🚀 Rockets still alive
🏇 Japan’s Kentucky Derby quest

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More like DED Golf

LIV Golf isn’t dead yet, but its demise is growing ever closer.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that league officials would inform players on Thursday of the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s intention to pull its financial support for the upstart golf tour. The news comes two weeks after multiple outlets reported that the Saudis intended to discontinue their investment after this season. In between, there were additional developments that spelled trouble for LIV’s future, like the postponement of a June tournament in New Orleans.

The loss of funding is an existential threat to LIV’s continued existence. From the start, the main appeal for players has been the ungodly amount of money offered. Top players signed lucrative contracts to move to the rival tour, and the tournaments feature larger purses than those on the PGA Tour. Without the seemingly endless Saudi oil money, LIV needs to line up alternate funding sources to keep itself alive past this season.

To that end, LIV announced Thursday morning that it has established an independent board of directors to help it transition to “a diversified, multi-partner investment model.” The board will be led by Gene Davis and Jon Zinman, veteran business consultants who LIV called “seasoned experts with proven track records of navigating complex situations and unlocking value for global organizations.”

Davis and Zinman have their work cut out for them. The PIF’s annual investment in LIV was believed to be around $1 billion—a staggering number that the league must now piece together from sponsors and investors who will be looking to make money, not just launder their image.

What does LIV’s pitch to its potential saviors look like? Some top players like Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have already jumped ship. Bryson DeChambeau’s contract is set to expire after this season (and he’s reportedly asking for $500 million to re-up). All that Saudi money hasn’t helped to build a true challenger to the PGA Tour, either. After five seasons, LIV has still failed to capture the attention of golf fans. Final round coverage of LIV’s most recent event earlier this month in Mexico City averaged just 49,000 viewers on FS1, compared to 4.35 million viewers for the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage on the same day. You hear that, investors? Come open up your checkbook to get a piece of a sports property that draws fewer viewers than bowling.

If LIV does go belly-up—or if it’s forced to trudge along in some pared-back fashion—it leaves players in a difficult position. DeChambeau and Jon Rahm are the best current players on the LIV roster. There’s also Dustin Johnson, Joaquín Niemann, Tyrrell Hatton and Cameron Smith. ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti reported Thursday that several players have begun exploring a return to the PGA Tour.

The Tour has already signaled its willingness to welcome former LIV players back into the fold—with some conditions. Koepka is back on the PGA Tour after agreeing to the terms set forth in the Returning Member Program this winter. As part of his return, he’ll forfeit five years of payouts from the Player Equity Program (estimated to be between $50 and $85 million) and will make a $5 million donation to charity. DeChambeau, Rahm and Smith were also eligible to return under the same conditions but opted to stay with LIV. Reed is serving a one-year ban from the PGA Tour before he will return to competition.

The Returning Member Program was only active for a limited time, though, so it’s unclear how the PGA Tour might handle the potential returns of other high-profile players. Uggetti also reported that the Tour’s decision to welcome back LIV players could depend on other factors, including whether the player resigned their Tour membership, on-course performance and whether they were part of the August 2022 antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. (DeChambeau was the most high-profile player among the 11 who participated in the suit.)

LIV will finish out the season, but after that, it’s anyone’s guess what it’ll look like.

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The top five…

… things I saw last night:
5. LeBron James’s reaction to Alperen Şengün complaining about a call.
4. Xavier Edwards’s unassisted double play for the final out of the Marlins’ win over the Dodgers.
3. Nathan Church’s home run robbery for the final out of the Cardinals’ win over the Pirates.
2. The finish to the Magic-Pistons game as Paolo Banchero and Cade Cunningham tried to top each other. They both scored 45 points, marking just the second time in NBA history that two opponents scored at least 45 in a playoff game. Donovan Mitchell (51 points) and Jamal Murray (50) accomplished the feat in 2020.
1. Cam York’s series-clinching overtime goal for the Flyers against the Penguins. York launched his stick into the crowd in celebration, and one lucky fan went home with the souvenir of a lifetime.

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