[Photo: Jordan Bank]
After weeks of speculation around the status of its season-ending championship, LIV Golf finally publicly cancelled its last event of the year, making this week’s stop in Indianapolis the de facto finale.
For months it has been believed that LIV Golf Michigan wouldn’t take place. The build-out never started at the host course, while Martin Kaymer openly speculated it probably wouldn’t happen. Last week players were informed by LIV that the championship was off the schedule, and several LIV players signed up for a coinciding event on the DP World Tour. However, LIV had not made any announcement and tickets were still seemingly available on LIV’s website.
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But in an overnight release, the league confirmed that LIV Golf Indianapolis would now serve as the last tournament for 2026. Additionally, citing “unavoidable changes in the entertainment program”, LIV’s concert series set for Indianapolis has been cancelled. LIV said those who purchased tickets for Michigan will receive a refund.
With Michigan out, “the four-day strokeplay event will take place [from] August 20-23, at The Club at Chatham Hills where 57 players will contend for the Indianapolis individual title and final spots in the league’s individual season-long standings,” LIV said in a statement. “The team competition will count the scores of all four players on each team every day, culminating with one of the 13 teams being crowned the 2026 LIV Golf team champion.”
“As the 2026 LIV Golf season comes to a close after incredible competition across 10 countries and five continents, we reflect on record crowds, broadcast viewership, marketing partner support and social growth, alongside historic comebacks, emerging young talent, OWGR recognition and new pathways to the majors,” LIV Golf chief executive Scott O’Neil said in the release. “By concluding the season now, we can put our full resources behind what comes next and maintain the operational rigour this transition demands. We are reimagining LIV Golf as a fundamentally new league owned by the players and anchored in a sustainable business model, with an evolved fan experience built for the markets where the game is growing fastest across the globe and the support of world-class partners. Professional golf is more unified today than at any point since we launched, creating a genuine opportunity to grow the game together. Indianapolis will be a fitting finale for the league as fans have known it and the starting point for what we believe it can become.
“As we concentrate on finishing the season strong and building the next chapter of LIV Golf, we’ll carry the energy and enthusiasm our fans have shown us into what comes next. The road ahead is possible because of the people who stand behind this League – our fans, players, caddies, employees, partners and sponsors.”
This is the second LIV event cancelled this year after Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund pulling its financial backing, as the league said it was postponing its New Orleans tournament due to northern-summer heat and the World Cup.
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Earlier this month, O’Neil announced LIV had secured a ‘lead investor’ to keep the league going into the future now that PIF has stopped bankrolling the league after pumping in at least $US6 billion into the enterprise, although LIV did not disclose the entity’s name. There are questions about whether the backing is actually structured as a loan, whether it’s dependent on other investors joining, and whether it’s contingent on a certain number of players remaining with the league.
LIV has already signalled it may file for bankruptcy, a number of LIV contractors have complained they haven’t been paid for services, and LIV is facing a lawsuit from the Premier Golf League where the PGL alleges LIV of breach of confidence and unlawful means conspiracy. Golf Digest reported earlier this year that a number of managers for LIV players have reached out to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour regarding avenues to return, and if LIV files for bankruptcy those still under contract will be freed from existing deals.
Among the most notable of those names is Jon Rahm, as the Telegraph reported last week that LIV executives are resigned to Rahm not returning to LIV in whatever new iteration it may take. Bryson DeChambeau is also a free agent, although with the PGA Tour signalling it will not extend the same exemption to DeChambeau that Brooks Koepka received (under the assertion that the exemption was already given to DeChambeau earlier this year) it’s likely DeChambeau attempts to stay with LIV if it continues.
