Dan Rapaport predicts how the PGA Tour will feel about reports of LIV Golf sealing $250m investment
Dan Rapaport has suggested that the PGA Tour will not be concerned by reports this week claiming that LIV Golf is closing in on sealing a $250 million investment to keep the league alive in 2027.
It appears that LIV Golf may have indeed secured a lifeline after months of speculation over the league’s future.
With the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia withdrawing their support, Scott O’Neil has been tasked with finding new partners in time for next season.
The expectation that the Team Championship would be postponed did nothing to quell the rumours of LIV being in serious trouble. But perhaps brighter days do lie ahead for the league.
LIV Golf looks to have secured the $250 million investment
The New York Post reported on Wednesday that O’Neil has secured the funding that he was looking for, having aimed for between $250 and $300 million.
It could be fantastic news for LIV Golf and the league’s supporters. They have been regularly written off ever since rumours emerged about the PIF walking away.
But perhaps it is more of a stay of execution, rather than the start of a hugely successful era for LIV.
Speaking on Dan on Golf, Dan Rapaport suggested that LIV remains in big trouble regardless of the news.
“I think LIV will continue next year in some form but I will say that I feel like it’s less attractive to a golfer who is actually trying to be a world class player than ever before to build a legacy and make a career,” he said.
“There is no value in it even now beside the money. This is year four and you were hoping that winning a LIV tournament would mean something and carry some weight and it doesn’t, beside the money.
“I think it’s even more true in LIV 2.0 where $250 million is not enough money for them to keep giving out $40 million in a single week.
“It’s going to be smaller, it’s going to be different, it’ll probably continue but let’s just say I think the days of the Jon Rahms and Bryson DeChambeaus going over there are probably over.
“Even now with the money it has not translated to audience, so I find it hard to believe a scaled down LIV is going to break through or challenge. Maybe that is no longer the goal, maybe the goal is no longer to be a true competitor to the PGA Tour.
“But I don’t think the PGA Tour will be bothered at all by this kind of news.”
All eyes will be on Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau as LIV seemingly lives to fight another day
It is going to be fascinating to see what this news means for the likes of Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
Given what was previously invested in LIV, it is hard to see how a $250 million injection is going to go anywhere near far enough to allow the league to continue in its current form.
As Rapaport suggests, you would imagine the prize money will have to be cut down significantly, while there are unlikely to be any notable contracts handed out anytime soon.
Given that the eye-watering sums were required to lure the big names over in the first place, it is surely going to be extremely challenging to convince any player with an option to leave to stay.
There have been reports from Flushing It that a number of players have expressed a desire to leave at the end of the season whether the league secures the investment or not.
It seems that those players’ resolve will probably be put to the test in the coming months, with LIV seemingly set to live to fight another day.
