MIGUEL Tabuena is as clueless as the rest of the LIV Golf field as they gather for the sixth leg of the season in Mexico beginning Thursday as the world tries to comprehend rumors that the league might soon be scrapped because its Saudi backers are withdrawing financial support.
Reports gathered from sources within the organization said a high-level meeting was held Wednesday in New York where LIV Golf officials were summoned to discuss plans of ending the league, adding that an important announcement will be made not later than Thursday or Friday.
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But as rumors swirled, LIV’s CEO, Scott O’Neil, emailed staff members not to worry, the "season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle."
While this was an assurance that LIV may be played till the end of the year, the question reportedly is what happens beyond that?
There was a report Wednesday night saying funding for LIV will end after the current season. This has not been refuted.
Tabuena has flown to Mexico to prepare for the sixth leg which is scheduled to start at Club de Golf Chapultepec on Thursday.
Tabuena, the country’s top golfer and who is playing in LIV Golf as a wild card, has played five events and apparently is there after getting assurances that the league will continue to operate.
Also in Mexico is LIV member Sergio Garcia who just competed at the Masters where he made news for the wrong reason. The Masters champion in 2017, smashed the tee box and then broke his driver after an errant teeshot on hole No. 2 at Augusta National.
Garcia, who has apologized for his conduct, said he has no inkling of what is going on behind the scenes although he heard rumors that LIV’s future might be in doubt.
But the Spanish star said Yasir al-Rumayyan, who handles funding to keep the league afloat and its players well compensated, had assured them that LIV was part of a broader, long-term effort.
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which finances the league, has poured $2 billion into LIV Golf. The league, however, has failed to gain traction and has not attracted a top golfer to join it since signing Jon Rahm three years ago.
“Honestly, we haven’t heard anything other than what Yasir told us at the beginning of the year,” Garcia said at a news conference in Mexico on the eve of a LIV tournament there.
“Honestly, you know how these rumors are,” Garcia said. “There are always a lot of them. And I can’t tell you anything more than what we already know.”
Meanwhile, the Financial Times reported that, "Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund is on the verge of cutting its support for LIV Golf. An announcement on the future of the kingdom's involvement in LIV, which has racked up huge losses since being set up five years ago, could come as soon as Thursday."
Earlier, there was also a report that the war in Iran was a factor that could lead to a declaration of Force Majeure "to pull the plug."
Golf writer Alan Shipnuck shared what he heard from "a tapped in player agent" who texted him this: “Have heard MBS wants to use the war as Force Majeure to pull the plug.”
Where LIV Golf is going no one knows. The Saudis may try to avoid the humiliation of accepting that it has erred in establishing LIV Golf and continue supporting it, but in the end, bleeding billions of dollars with no end in sight may prove untenable, even for a country like Saudi Arabia.
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