The golf world is buzzing with speculation as LIV Golf's uncertain future raises major questions about where stars like Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau will land. According to recent reports, LIV Golf is preparing to inform its players that the Saudi Public Investment Fund will stop funding the league at the end of 2026, forcing the tour to seek new investors—a tall order given its significant financial losses.
This uncertainty has put the spotlight squarely on LIV's biggest names. While Brooks Koepka has already made his return to the PGA Tour this year, both DeChambeau and Rahm were offered similar off-ramps but declined. Now, with the league's financial future in doubt, the question on everyone's mind is: what happens next?
Rahm's situation is particularly complicated. The two-time major winner has burned bridges across the golfing landscape, especially with the DP World Tour. He was the only LIV player to reject a deal that would have allowed him to maintain his DP World Tour membership, putting his Ryder Cup eligibility for 2025 in serious jeopardy. European stalwarts Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose have been vocal in their criticism, urging Rahm to put his pride aside and prioritize Team Europe.
But the tension runs even deeper. Rahm was a late jumper to LIV Golf, leaving the PGA Tour a full year after DeChambeau and Koepka in 2023. His signing was a massive boost for the then-Saudi-backed league at a critical moment when LIV and the PGA Tour were negotiating a framework agreement for coexistence. Rahm's move gave LIV the leverage it needed to walk away from those talks—a decision that still stings for PGA Tour players today.
According to a report from Golf Digest's Joel Beall, "The view from players and from Ponte Vedra is narrow and consistent: Rahm's exit at the end of 2023 may have prolonged the conflict by a full year. LIV was on the ropes. The framework agreement was advancing. Then Rahm crossed over, delivered the Saudi circuit the validation it was running out of time to find, and the tour was caught flat-footed."
Should LIV collapse in 2027, Rahm's path back to the PGA Tour looks anything but smooth. As the report notes, his only option may be a humbled return to the DP World Tour—assuming that door remains open at all. For now, the golf world watches and waits, as the fate of one of the sport's most talented—and controversial—figures hangs in the balance.