LIV Golf Cuts $30M in Prize Money From End of Season
LIV Golf canceled its Michigan finale and cut prize money at the Indianapolis season-closer this week, reducing total payouts by $30 million. The move follows the Saudi PIF's April announcement to end funding at season's end. Players and teams have now lost $60.1 million in promised prize money across the 2026 season, and vendors report unpaid invoices totaling millions.
LIV Golf canceled its scheduled team championship in Michigan and cut prize money at this week's Indianapolis finale, reducing combined payouts by $30 million as Saudi funding ends this month, according to Front Office Sports reporting.
The Indianapolis individual competition will now pay out $10.1 million in total purses, roughly half the standard $20 million at LIV events. The winner's check drops to $2.02 million, about 50 percent of the typical $4 million first-place prize. The canceled Michigan team championship was supposed to distribute $40.1 million to the league's 13 franchises. Originally, the two events were scheduled to pay out $70.1 million combined.
The revised Indianapolis tournament will serve as both the individual event and the season-ending team championship, paying out $30 million to franchises under a new format that compiles each team's four-player stroke play scores across the full four rounds. Under the original plan, the team championship was to distribute prizes ranging from $11.2 million for first place down to $480,000 for 13th.
LIV players and teams have lost $60.1 million in previously promised prize money across the 2026 season, including a $30 million purse at the canceled Louisiana event in June. The league will conclude its season with 12 events totaling $370.1 million in prize payouts, according to Front Office Sports.
The Saudi PIF announced in April that it would end its funding of LIV at the end of this season. The league is in talks with BC Partners Credit about a new funding deal, but no agreement has been finalized. Two former vendors are suing the league for more than $1 million each in unpaid invoices, and other contractors report being owed as much as $100,000, according to reporting by Front Office Sports.
Jon Rahm has clinched first place in the individual championship, earning a $6 million bonus from the unchanged $10 million season-long points pool. The final two championship slots, paying $3 million and $1 million respectively, will be decided this weekend. Bryson DeChambeau is guaranteed at least third place, while Joaquin Niemann and Lucas Herbert remain in contention for both second or third, and Tyrrell Hatton has a chance only for third.
Players at Indianapolis will continue to earn Official World Golf Rankings points. The canceled Michigan match-play format was not scheduled to award OWGR points.
LIV Golf cut $30 million in prize money by canceling the Michigan team championship and reducing the Indianapolis individual purse from $20 million to $10.1 million.
LIV Golf's prize money cuts come as the league races to finalize emergency refinancing before the Saudi PIF's funding ends. The timing and scale of the reductions underscore how dependent the league remains on stable outside capital to sustain its tournament schedule and player compensation.
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