Cameron Smith ‘may be rethinking’ LIV future as Saudi funding dries up

Key facts

• Cameron Smith joined LIV in 2022 weeks after winning the Open, in a deal reportedly worth more than $100 million.
• Smith has missed the cut at his past six majors; two eighth-place finishes at LIV events this year are his best results.
• Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will stop funding LIV at the end of the 2026 season.
• LIV has retained investment bank Ducera Partners to drive long-term capital strategy.
• Brooks Koepka accepted the PGA Tour's returning member programme before the 2 February deadline; Patrick Reed is playing on the DP World Tour before returning to the PGA Tour later this year.
• South Australia government is spending $45 million to upgrade a course scheduled to host a LIV tournament from 2028.
• he is looking to leave LIV before the end of the year, saying he is 'committed to making team golf work'.

Smith’s crossroads: a $100 million gamble turns uncertain

Cameron Smith, Australian golf’s brightest star and one of LIV Golf’s most expensive recruits, may be reconsidering his allegiance to the Saudi-backed breakaway tour. Gavin Kirkman, chief executive of the PGA of Australia, said Smith will discuss his future with his management team in the coming weeks, ahead of a meeting with Kirkman later this month. “What we’re hearing, he’s too young to retire, and then, where he made that decision based on where LIV Golf was at that stage, he may be rethinking with his management,” Kirkman said. Smith, 32, joined LIV in 2022 weeks after winning the Open, signing a deal reportedly worth more than $100 million. He has missed the cut at his past six majors, though two eighth-place finishes at LIV tournaments this year hint at his enduring quality.

Saudi withdrawal forces LIV to seek new investors

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund has announced it will withdraw its multi-billion dollar backing at the end of the 2026 season, plunging the breakaway series into financial uncertainty. LIV has since retained investment bank Ducera Partners to drive a long-term capital strategy, but any salvaged operation is unlikely to resemble the flashy disruptor that has burnt through more than $5 billion. The loss of Saudi funding has raised questions about LIV’s ability to retain its biggest stars. The tour has already seen Brooks Koepka accept the PGA Tour’s returning member programme before the 2 February deadline, while former LIV player Patrick Reed is playing on the DP World Tour ahead of a return to the PGA Tour later this year.

DeChambeau denies exit rumours, but cracks appear

Bryson DeChambeau, a two-time major winner and one of LIV’s marquee names, has forcefully denied reports that he is seeking to leave the series before the end of the year. “It’s completely untrue. I’m working as hard as I can to find a solution,” the 32-year-old American told Flushing It Golf. “I’m committed to making team golf work in the best way possible.” Reports last week suggested DeChambeau’s representatives had started talks with PGA Tour executives over a return. The PGA Tour set up a returning member programme, open until 2 February, which DeChambeau, along with Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith, declined to take. DeChambeau joined LIV in 2022.

Australian golf braces for a post-LIV landscape

The entire Australian golf sector is wrestling with what a future without LIV – or with a fiscally restrained LIV-lite – might look like. The South Australia government is pushing ahead with spending $45 million to upgrade a course still scheduled to host a LIV tournament from 2028. Australia’s golfing institutions are immune to any collapse of LIV, yet the links within the sport run deep. A junior entry program run by Golf Australia is sponsored by Smith’s LIV team Ripper GC, and the sport’s governing body celebrates the nation’s best golfers performing at their peak. Kirkman noted that LIV has several esteemed Australians on its books who are already full members of the PGA Tour of Australasia, including Marc Leishman, Elvis Smylie, and Lucas Herbert. “Our focus is on Cam, Marc Leishman’s still got a lot of golf to play, Elvis Smylie is a superstar and Lucas Herbert is capable of winning a major, so those four players are very important to Australian golf,” he said.

Calls for unity as golf’s fractured ecosystem seeks healing

Kirkman urged golf officials with the majors and international tours to remember the best interests of the sport as they consider how to reintegrate LIV players. “They’ll have to come together and work out how they’re going to get the best golfers in the field, and then we want the best golfers to come to Australia because we know we’ve got the courses, the capabilities,” he said. Some have called for bans and severe penalties for players seeking to rejoin the established tours if LIV falls over. But Kirkman stressed the need for a global solution: “We can’t make their decisions for them, but this is where we hope the global golf ecosystem really comes together because I can say that all the tours and all the majors want the best golfers playing.”

What next for LIV’s biggest names?

Smith stuck with LIV earlier this year during a window when the PGA Tour offered a way back for players that would involve a financial penalty. With Saudi funding drying up, the calculus has shifted. Kirkman’s comments suggest Smith’s decision may hinge on whether LIV can secure new investment and maintain its current structure. DeChambeau, for his part, remains publicly committed, but the departure of Koepka and Reed signals a momentum shift back towards the incumbents. The coming weeks will be critical: Smith’s meeting with Kirkman, and LIV’s search for new capital, will determine whether the breakaway tour can survive – and whether its stars will return to the fold.

The bottom line

• Cameron Smith may reconsider his LIV commitment after Saudi funding ends; he meets PGA of Australia officials later this month.
• Saudi Arabia’s PIF will stop funding LIV after 2026; LIV has hired Ducera Partners to find new investors.
• Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have already returned to the PGA Tour; Bryson DeChambeau denies exit rumours.
• Australian golf relies on Smith and other LIV players for local tournaments and junior programs.
• Gavin Kirkman calls for a unified global golf ecosystem to ensure the best players compete together.
• LIV has spent more than $5 billion since its launch in 2022; its future now depends on securing new capital.