Ethics CasesSport

Cases · LIV Golf / PGA Tour / DP World Tour · 2021–2026

LIV Golf, Saudi Money and the Split in Men's Golf

LIV Golf launched in 2022 with funding from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), offering huge contracts and prize money to lure top players from the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour suspended players who joined, lawsuits followed, and human rights groups and families of 9/11 victims accused Saudi Arabia of sportswashing. In June 2023, the PGA Tour, the European tour and the PIF announced a framework to combine their commercial operations, surprising players who had stayed loyal; the deal was not completed by its deadline. In April 2026, the PIF said the long-term investment LIV required no longer fit its strategy, and in September 2026, LIV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The case raises questions about player choice, sovereign wealth in sport and loyalty.

By Tanner Simkins, editor

Timeline

  1. The first LIV Golf event is held near London.
  2. The PGA Tour suspends members who play in LIV events.
  3. LIV and several players file an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour.
  4. The PGA Tour, the European tour and the PIF announce a framework agreement.
  5. A Senate subcommittee holds a hearing on the PGA Tour–PIF framework agreement.
  6. Masters champion Jon Rahm joins LIV; the agreement's deadline passes.
  7. A U.S. investor group agrees to invest in the PGA Tour's for-profit arm.
  8. The PIF says it will stop funding LIV after the 2026 season.
  9. LIV Golf files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The ethical issues

  • Sportswashing: whether states use sport to improve their image.
  • Player autonomy: freedom to choose employers.
  • Loyalty and trust: players who rejected LIV money.
  • Competition and antitrust: whether tours can bar rivals.
  • Sustainability: business models dependent on one funder.

Stakeholders

StakeholderInterests & obligations
PlayersEarnings, careers and reputations.
PGA Tour and European tourControl of elite golf.
Saudi Arabia's PIFInvestment returns and national image.
Human rights groups and 9/11 familiesAccountability for Saudi Arabia.
Fans and broadcastersAccess to top players.
Tournament hosts and sponsorsStability of events.

The case

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) backed a new golf league, LIV Golf, led by former world No. 1 Greg Norman. The first event was held on June 9, 2022, at the Centurion Club near London.[1] LIV offered 54-hole, no-cut events, team competition and purses of $20 million or more per event, and signed leading players with large contracts.[1]

Background

LIV’s corporate vehicle launched in October 2021 as LIV Golf Investments, with Norman as chief executive.[1] The name refers to the Roman numeral 54, the number of holes in its events until the league moved to 72 holes for 2026.[1] Recruiting was aggressive and disruptive. Henrik Stenson was removed as Europe’s Ryder Cup captain before his move to LIV was announced.[1] PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan signaled early that golfers who joined a rival league would be barred from tour events.[1]

Norman rejected the sportswashing charge. In 2021, he said he worked for LIV out of passion for the sport, not to be used for sportswashing.[1] Khashoggi’s fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, said it was hurtful that his killing was “brushed off as a ‘mistake.’”[1]

The rules and governance

Tour membership rules were the main battleground. The PGA Tour required members to get releases to play in conflicting events. Its suspensions of LIV players rested on that rule, and its countersuit accused LIV of encouraging players to break their contracts.[1] In Europe, several players challenged their suspensions. The suspensions were put on hold pending a full hearing by Sport Resolutions UK, which let the players compete in the Scottish Open and later events.[1]

The Official World Golf Ranking was another lever. The ranking decides entry to the majors, and in October 2023 it declined to include LIV events. In a March 2024 letter to players, Norman said LIV would no longer pursue ranking points, a stance reversed in November 2025.[1] The move to 72-hole events was seen as aimed at qualifying for the ranking.[1]

The backlash

The PGA Tour suspended members who played in LIV events, and the European tour fined and suspended players, leading to legal challenges.[1] In August 2022, LIV and several players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour, which countersued.[1]

Human Rights Watch and other critics described LIV as sportswashing: an attempt to improve Saudi Arabia’s image through sport.[1] In May 2022, Norman said of the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, “Look, we’ve all made mistakes,” a statement that drew extensive criticism.[1] Families of victims of the September 11 attacks thanked players who stayed with the PGA Tour, and in July 2022 condemned former President Donald Trump for hosting a LIV event at his club in Bedminster, New Jersey.[1]

The framework deal

On June 6, 2023, the PGA Tour, the European tour and LIV announced plans to combine their commercial rights in a new venture funded by the PIF, ending litigation.[1] The deal’s December 31, 2023, deadline passed without completion. In January 2024, Strategic Sports Group, a consortium of U.S. sports owners, agreed to pay $1.5 billion initially for a stake in the PGA Tour’s for-profit arm, with a second $1.5 billion to follow the conclusion of talks with the PIF.[1] In December 2023, Masters champion Jon Rahm joined LIV.[1]

The Senate inquiry

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing on the deal on July 11, 2023. Chair Richard Blumenthal opened by saying it was “about much more than the game of golf. It is about how a brutal, repressive regime can buy influence.”[5] He quoted Jon Rahm’s comment that “a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management,” and noted that the tour’s leaders had been the strongest critics of Saudi sportswashing for two years, enlisting players, sponsors and 9/11 families.[5] He said documents given to the subcommittee showed that the PIF added a non-disparagement clause the night before the agreement was signed. They also showed that tour officials had been prepared to sign an agreement under which Norman would be terminated once a final deal was executed, and that the PIF governor, Yasir al-Rumayyan, would become chairman and sit on the new company’s executive committee. One document said that role would “provide PIF with strong influence.”[5] Blumenthal called the framework “seemingly unspecific, vacuous, and simply an agreement to agree.”[5]

Jimmy Dunne, a PGA Tour independent director who helped arrange the deal, gave the tour’s account. He said the players’ August 2022 lawsuit threatened “an extremely costly, disruptive, and distracting courtroom battle” that could last for years. He suggested that commissioner Jay Monahan contact al-Rumayyan directly. He and the tour’s chairman met al-Rumayyan in London in April 2023, and Monahan joined a second meeting in Venice in May.[6] He said the agreement had only two main binding terms: dismissal of all litigation with prejudice, and a promise not to poach each other’s players during negotiations. The rest was “non-binding pending the execution of definitive agreements.”[6] He said the framework required the tour to keep “a controlling voting interest” in any new entity and “full decision-making authority” over competition. He added that the chairman would have only one vote on a board the tour controlled.[6] Dunne, who lost his mentor and 65 colleagues at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, said he believed the deal “was the best path forward.”[6]

Aftermath

On April 30, 2026, the PIF, which had spent more than $5 billion on LIV, said that “the substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term” was no longer consistent with its strategy and that it would stop funding after the 2026 season.[2][3] On September 8, 2026, LIV filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New Jersey, owing at least $45 million to players. The PIF agreed to provide $49.6 million in bankruptcy financing, and LIV proposed a restructuring under which players would become majority owners.[3][4]

Leadership and broadcasting

Norman’s formal duties ended when his contract expired in August 2025, and in September 2025 he confirmed he was stepping away entirely.[1] LIV said its broadcasts reached 120 countries in 2025, and in January 2026 it signed a multi-year deal with TNT Sports for the UK and Ireland.[1]

The core dilemma

Players argued they were independent contractors free to choose where to play. Critics said joining LIV helped legitimize a government with a poor human rights record. Then the PGA Tour itself negotiated with the same fund. Who acted with integrity, and what do players and governing bodies owe each other?

Competing values

  • Player freedom vs. collective loyalty: individual choice against tour solidarity.
  • Money vs. reputation: earnings against association with a state’s image.
  • Competition vs. control: rival leagues against unified tours.
  • Engagement vs. accountability: investment as influence or as complicity.

Strongest arguments

For players’ freedom to join: golfers are independent contractors with short careers, and other industries accept Saudi investment. Competition increased player earnings across golf.

Against: taking state money helps a government polish its image while critics are imprisoned. Players who joined undermined colleagues who stayed loyal.

Applying the frameworks

Utilitarian

Consequentialists weigh benefits (higher pay for players, new formats, investment in golf) against harms: the division of the men’s game, reduced meetings between top players, and the reputational benefit to a government with a poor human rights record. The PIF’s withdrawal and the bankruptcy add another cost: uncertainty for players, staff and partners.

Rights

A rights lens asks about players’ freedom to work where they choose against tours’ rules restricting them, and about the rights of those harmed by the Saudi state, including Khashoggi and victims’ families who objected to the league. Players’ rights to earn do not settle whether they bear responsibility for whom they help.

Virtue

Virtue ethics examines the character of the choices: players who said they were growing the game, executives who reversed public positions to make a deal, and a league chief who dismissed a murder as a “mistake.” It asks what integrity requires when money and values conflict.

Walk it through: the Simple Decision Model

  1. Spot the issue. You are a top professional golfer in 2022 offered a large guaranteed contract by LIV. The stakeholders include you, your family, your sponsors, fans, the tours, fellow players and people affected by the Saudi government’s human rights record. The codes in play are tour regulations, your contracts and your own values.
  2. Gather facts. What are the terms, and what tour sanctions might follow? What do you know about the funding’s source and its purposes?
  3. Test options. Options: (a) join; (b) decline; (c) join and speak openly about human rights concerns. Weigh financial security against reputation, career pathways and ethical concerns.
  4. Check codes and law. Are you rationalizing because others have joined? Would you be comfortable explaining your choice to people harmed by the funder?
  5. Decide and document. Record your reasons and the key contractual terms.
  6. Communicate and follow up. Communicate your decision honestly with fans and sponsors, and be prepared to address the questions it will raise.

What’s settled and what’s contested

  • Settled: LIV’s launch; the 2023 framework; the PIF’s 2026 withdrawal; LIV’s bankruptcy filing.
  • Contested: whether LIV was sportswashing or investment; the future of the men’s game.

Why this case matters

LIV’s rise and fall show how sovereign wealth can reshape a sport, and how fragile a league can be when it depends on a single backer.

Key terms

Sportswashing
Using sport, through events, teams or sponsorship, to improve the reputation of a state or company and distract from wrongdoing.
Commercialization
The process of turning sport into a product and a business enterprise, with profit pressures that can compete with principle.
Agency
An athlete’s ability to make decisions and act independently about their body, career and voice.
Brand as ethical promise
A brand is more than a logo: it is a promise to stakeholders about values and conduct, and it is broken when actions contradict it.

Definitions from the Ethics Cases glossary.

Discussion questions

  1. Is it wrong for players to accept money from a state-funded league accused of sportswashing? Does it matter that many industries take Saudi investment?
  2. Was the PGA Tour justified in suspending players who joined LIV?
  3. The PGA Tour agreed a framework with the PIF after suspending LIV players. How should players who turned down LIV view that?
  4. What does LIV's bankruptcy suggest about sport funded by one wealthy backer?
  5. Should sports bodies adopt human rights criteria for investors?

Sources

  1. LIV Golf — Wikipedia
  2. Saudi backers say LIV Golf no longer fits with investment strategy — Reuters
  3. LIV Golf: Players have option to leave after competition files for bankruptcy protection — BBC Sport
  4. LIV Golf files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — CNBC
  5. Opening Statement of Chair Richard Blumenthal, "The PGA-LIV Deal: Implications for the Future of Golf and Saudi Arabia's Influence in the United States" (July 11, 2023) — U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
  6. Statement of Jimmy Dunne, Independent Director, PGA TOUR, Inc. (July 11, 2023) — U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations