In 2022, Saudi money split professional golf in two. Here's the whole story — why it happened, who took the money, what it cost them, and where things stand now.
In 2021, a new golf league called LIV Golf — backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) — began quietly recruiting players from the PGA Tour. The pitch was simple: huge guaranteed appearance fees (reportedly in the tens of millions of dollars for marquee players), no cuts, fewer events, and a fresh competitive format.
The PGA Tour caught wind and warned players that joining LIV would result in suspension. Most players stayed. But in June 2022, LIV played its inaugural event at Centurion Club in England, and the roster included several prominent names — including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Charl Schwartzel, and others.
The PGA Tour made good on its threat and suspended every player who competed. The war was on.
The primary draw was money — enormous, life-changing, generational-wealth money. But it wasn't only that:
The biggest names to join LIV Golf include:
Critics use the term to describe how authoritarian governments use high-profile sports investments to improve their international image and distract from human rights abuses. Saudi Arabia has faced significant criticism for its human rights record, and many believe the LIV Golf investment is motivated at least in part by the desire to normalize Saudi Arabia's global standing.
LIV Golf has been unable to get full Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points recognized for its events. Without ranking points, LIV players' world rankings have fallen — and world ranking is one of the primary ways to qualify for the four major championships. This has created an awkward situation where some of the best players in the world struggle to qualify for the most important events.
The dispute quickly moved into courtrooms. LIV players who had been suspended by the PGA Tour sued for antitrust violations, arguing the Tour was using its market power to prevent them from competing. The PGA Tour countersued. The litigation was complex, expensive, and slow-moving.
The European Tour (DP World Tour) also faced its own dispute, suspending several European players who had joined LIV — including Henrik Stenson, who controversially was stripped of the Ryder Cup captaincy he had been appointed to after signing with LIV.
The four major championships — The Masters, PGA Championship, US Open, and The Open — are operated by independent bodies (Augusta National, the PGA of America, the USGA, and The R&A). They are not directly controlled by the PGA Tour, which means LIV players can still play in majors if they qualify.
All four major organizers have stated publicly that LIV players who meet the qualification criteria will be welcome. But because LIV doesn't award full OWGR points, many LIV players have fallen in the rankings, making automatic qualification harder to achieve.
LIV players typically qualify through:
The result is an awkward dynamic: players like Brooks Koepka (five majors) and Bryson DeChambeau can still show up at Augusta in April, compete against PGA Tour regulars, and win — which Koepka did at the 2023 PGA Championship. It makes the majors feel like temporary truces in an ongoing war.