The LIV Golf experiment is teetering on the brink. The Saudi-backed breakaway tour will lay off the majority of its staff next week under drastic reforms intended to keep the embattled circuit alive beyond this season, a spokeswoman confirmed on Wednesday.

The layoffs follow the abrupt end of funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which had poured a reported $5 billion over several years into luring many of the sport’s biggest stars away from the PGA Tour. That extraordinary financial commitment, the fuel that powered LIV’s audacious assault on golf’s established order, came to a sudden halt following last weekend’s Indianapolis season finale.

Whilst LIV officials insist a “2.0” version of the tour will re-emerge under new investors next season with a shorter schedule and reduced prize money, the future remains deeply uncertain. And for the employees being shown the door next week, that uncertainty offers little comfort.

The end of Saudi billions

“The funding commitment announced by PIF earlier this year will reach its conclusion. As a result, we are scaling back operations as we transition to the next chapter of LIV Golf and work toward making LIV 2.0 a reality,” the LIV spokeswoman said in a statement.

“This week, we informed many of our colleagues that their employment under LIV 1.0 will end in the first week of September. We are grateful to our employees for their hard work and dedication in building LIV Golf, and we remain committed to supporting those affected through this transition.”

Searching for new money

LIV currently has an agreement in place with an unnamed prospective new lead investor and is offering players significant equity stakes in the tour, an attempt to keep its star attractions onboard.

The organisation is also seeking further minority investors, with the goal of sealing a new ownership structure by the end of next month. A limited number of staff will be retained in September, whilst LIV hopes to bring back many employees at a later date if the transaction is completed, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.

But hope isn’t a strategy. And in professional sport, when the money disappears, everything else tends to follow.

Will the stars stay or jump ship?

The future of LIV 2.0, assuming it materialises at all, will depend entirely on its ability to retain the big-draw players whose star power justified those Saudi billions in the first place.

The current roster includes major champions Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, and Sergio Garcia, none of whom have publicly committed to staying beyond this season.

Widespread reports have linked several LIV stars with potential returns to the PGA Tour and other established circuits, though the PGA Tour stated this week it currently has no plans to offer LIV defectors a pathway back. That could change, of course, if enough marquee names come knocking.

DeChambeau’s cryptic message

Speaking at LIV’s season-ending Indianapolis event on Sunday, DeChambeau said he was “proud” of what the tour had achieved and claimed he had “great thoughts about what could happen next year.”

But on Monday, he published an enigmatic post on Instagram: photos of several LIV victories accompanied by the caption “It was a good run.”

Past tense. “Was.” Not “is.” That single word choice has fuelled speculation that even LIV’s biggest star is preparing to jump ship before the whole venture collapses entirely.

Survival far From guaranteed

LIV Golf burst onto the scene with Saudi billions, unprecedented prize money, and bold claims it would revolutionise professional golf. It poached some of the sport’s biggest names, triggered legal warfare with the PGA Tour, and divided opinion like few sporting ventures in recent memory.

Now, just over two years later, it’s laying off most of its staff, desperately hunting new investors, and watching its star players consider exit strategies whilst executives insist everything will be fine.

LIV 2.0 might emerge. New investors might materialise. Players might commit their futures to a restructured tour with reduced prize money and a shortened schedule.

But right now, the breakaway tour that promised to shake up golf looks far more likely to simply shake apart. And for the majority of LIV Golf employees being shown the door next week, the revolution is already over.