LIV won't say if Michigan finale is cancelled
What's deal with 'guaranteed' funds through season?; Sentry ponies up; Hush coverage
LIV hasn’t begun prepping Plymouth, Mich., course for imperiled team finale (Michael Miller/ISI Photos via Getty Images)
Amid speculation that LIV Golf is going to cancel its season-ending event next month in Michigan, one question remains unanswered:
Didn’t the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia guarantee its backing of the league for the rest of this year? If it did (sorry, a follow-up question begs asking), why is any event in peril?
The league on Wednesday declined to officially cancel the season-ending Team Championship scheduled to begin on Aug. 27 at The Cardinal at St. John’s in Plymouth, Mich. The event, with its $40 million purse, remains listed on LIV’s website.
In addressing media inquiries about the status of the Michigan finale, LIV Golf said it would have no update until after its next tournament, LIV Golf New York, which is next week, Aug. 6-9, in Bedminster, N.J.
LIV Golf said it is working on next week’s tournament and “preparing for the Individual Championship and the Team Championship in the weeks ahead.”
The individual event is scheduled for Indianapolis, Aug. 20-23, and it’s possible that LIV Golf shifts its team event there.
Also in today’s DD …
Sentry event at Torrey Pines will join Championship Series lineup
Quiet, please! Featured groups at Rocket will be shown without commentary
Mullinax lands six-month suspension for violating anti-doping policy
Still … what happened to the so-called “guaranteed” PIF funding?
Per its April 30 release stating that it would no longer fund the league beyond this year, the PIF said that it “made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season.”
“The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF’s investment strategy,” the statement said. “This decision has been made in light of PIF’s investment priorities and current macro dynamics. The LIV Golf Board has created a committee of independent directors to evaluate strategic alternatives for its future beyond PIF’s funding horizon.”
The key wording there is “the remainder of the 2026 season,” which already includes one lost event scheduled for New Orleans in June that was cancelled.
What gives?
Is the PIF reneging on its agreement?
Quite possibly.
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has walked a fine line when discussing these matters and he quickly pivoted back in April to securing funding for the future, acknowledging that he needed somewhere north of $300 million in order to regroup and rebrand a LIV Golf 2.0 for 2027 and beyond.
It is unclear why O’Neil and LIV don’t simply want to move on from the Michigan event and lean into finishing with two more events while scrambling to secure that future funding.
Perhaps there are contractual reasons, although no buildout has started at the Michigan venue and seems highly unlikely that a high-level event could be staged there with no preparation having transpired to date. Clearly some chatter about vendors not being paid doesn’t help, but a source said that all of the staff has been paid on time.
Meanwhile, fans have bought tickets for the Michigan team finale and some who have made travel arrangements and are now in limbo, waiting — likely for two more weeks — for LIV to say whether or not the event will be played.
All of this is in the aftermath of one of the league’s more successful 2026 events, the LIV Golf UK tournament where more than 50,000 spectators attended for the week. LIV would love to build on the momentum of that tournament, won by Australian Lucas Herbert, who moved into the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking with his recent successes there and the Open Championship.
Building momentum is difficult to do with the status of its season-ending event in limbo, no information forthcoming.
O’Neil did sent a memo to players and staff on Wednesday saying that he remains “encouraged by ongoing discussions with potential investors, and we continue to work diligently toward an investment that supports LIV 2.0,” adding that “we are laser-focused on reaching the finish line.”
Soon after, the New York Post reported the that league was “on the cusp” of securing $250 million plus in investment.
Another day, another Championship Series event
For the third straight day, the PGA Tour announced that it has secured a sponsor for one of its proposed top-tier Championship Series events in 2028. Sentry — which previously sponsored the season-opening event in Kapalua, Hawaii and recently moved to the event at Torrey Pines in San Diego — will become one of those 15 or 16 top-tier tournaments joining the season with the majors, Players and playoff events.
Next year’s Sentry tournament will be played in late January as a full-field event and then will become part of the Championship Series a year later.
On Monday, the PGA Tour announced that the Travelers Championship would be a Championship Series event and Tuesday it said a new tournament sponsored by Sompo will play at a still-to-be-named location in 2028. Next year, Sompo will sponsor a full-field event at Silverado Resort in Napa, Calif. — where the Procore Championship was played last year in the fall — before transitioning to another location for 2028.
The tour is expected to announce other sponsors and venues for its Championship Series in the coming weeks in advance of the Tour Championship in Atlanta, where CEO Brian Rolapp is expected to provide more information on how the new system will work.
Shh! Stream will ditch annoucers at Rocket
Quiet, please? Thank you.
If you’ve ever wished you could watch a PGA Tour event without announcers getting in the way by telling you how good the shot was that you just saw, you’re going to love this week’s Rocket Classic.
This week, PGA Tour Live on the ESPN app will introduce a new announcer-free stream, ditching its commentary team in favor of leaning into player caddie conversations, crowd reactions and natural course audio.
The Marquee Group: Quiet Please! stream debuts on the ESPN App today featuring enhanced graphics and audio across all four rounds without additional commentary.
Thursday morning and Friday afternoon feed features Jackson Koivun, coming off his first career win at last week’s 3M Open, alongside two-time U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark and eight-time tour winner Keegan Bradley.
Three-time major champion Jordan Spieth joins eight-time tour winner Patrick Cantlay and Jake Knapp for the Thursday afternoon and Friday morning tee times.
PGA Tour Live’s on the ESPN app’s coverage from the Rocket Classic at Detroit Golf Club begins Thursday at 7 a.m. EDT and continues through the final round on Sunday.
Fans will be able to stream every shot from Detroit Golf Club’s par-3 fifth, 11th and 15th holes, as well as the par-4 17th throughout the first two rounds on the ESPN app.
Drug test land Mullinax six-month suspension
The PGA Tour announced on Wednesday that Trey Mullinax is suspended for six months for violating the anti-doping policy after testing positive for a WADA-prohibited substance.
In his statement, Mullinax accepted full responsibility, explaining he took a medication for a prior medical condition without obtaining required approval under tour rules. The pro — whose only career PGA Tour came at the 2022 Barbasol Championship — denied any intent to gain a competitive edge, emphasized full cooperation, and is eligible to return to PGA Tour competition on January 16, 2027. He had only made two PGA Tour starts this year, missing the cut at both the Texas Children’s Houston Open and the Zurich Classic of New Orleans team event.
“To my fans, I want to address the news regarding my failed anti-doping test and the suspension that followed,” Mullinax said in a statement provided by the tour. “I take full responsibility for what happened. At the end of the day, it is my responsibility to understand and follow the PGA Tour’s anti-doping policy and all of its rules and regulations. I failed to do that, and that is on me. I recently used a medication to treat a condition I was originally diagnosed with in college without seeking approval under the tour’s anti-doping policy.
“My lack of knowledge is not an excuse. It was my responsibility to know the rules before taking any medication and I failed to do so. I want to be absolutely clear: I have never taken any substance with the intention of gaining a competitive advantage. Anyone who knows me knows how much I respect this game and the values it represents.
“I accept the consequences of my actions and will use this experience as a lesson. Golf has given me so much, and I never want one mistake to define the respect I have for the game or for the people who support me. Thank you to everyone who has supported me, and I look forward to competing again in 2027.”