Uncertainty over high-profile Staffordshire tournament amid LIV Golf closure fears

The breakaway tour, which has staged a tournament at the JCB Golf & Country Club for the past two years, was due to return to course in July - bringing a host of the world’s top players including the likes of Ryder Cup heroes Jon Rahm and Tyrell Hatton.

However, there are fears for the entire future of the controversial organisation amid reports its main backer, the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, was ready to pull the plug on its investment.

Reports early on Thursday claimed LIV intends to continue “uninterrupted and at full throttle” amid ongoing speculation over a possible withdrawal of its Saudi backers.

However, there followed other reports that LIV executives have been summoned to a crunch meeting in New York amid claims the Saudis were set to end their funding amid plans to concentrate resources on other areas amid the ongoing crisis between the US and Iran, which is massively impacting the region.

Any closure of LIV would impact fans who had bought tickets for this year’s UK event, based at the Championship course, at JCB’s headquarters at Rocester, near Uttoxeter.

Tickets for the event, due to be staged from July 23-26, remained on sale on Thursday afternoon at £22 for a day or £102 for the whole four days.

Hospitality packages running into thousands of pounds were also on sale.

The breakaway league launched in 2021 and sent shockwaves through the sport, positioning itself as a rival to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.

LIV attracted some of golf’s biggest names, including Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson, before leading European players such as Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton also joined.

Rumours over its future began to swirl this week, with the Financial Times reporting that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) was close to cutting its backing and the Telegraph suggesting executives had been called to an “emergency meeting” in New York.

LIV chief executive Scott O’Neil has reportedly responded by sending an email to staff, reaffirming the league’s position.

“I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,” O’Neil said in the email, according to ESPN.

“While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.”

LIV’s Mexico City event is taking place over the coming days at Club de Golf Chapultepec. Speaking at a press conference ahead of the event, Sergio Garcia said: “Honestly, we haven’t heard anything other than what Yasir (Al-Rumayyan, LIV Golf chairman) told us at the beginning of the year.

“That he’s behind us, that they have a long-term project. And well, honestly, you know how these rumours are. There are always a lot of them. And I can’t tell you anything more than what we already know.”

When contacted, LIV reiterated that executives are focused on this week’s event in Mexico.

Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka quit LIV earlier this year to return to the PGA Tour, while former Masters champion Patrick Reed also walked away and is competing on the DP World Tour as he bids to return to the PGA Tour.

LIV’s emergence sparked a fierce divide in the game. European Ryder Cup stalwarts Garcia, Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood effectively ended their participation in the biennial event by joining the Saudi-backed league as the PGA and DP World Tour imposed sanctions on players who defected.

Hatton and Rahm were able to play in last year’s Ryder Cup win in New York as their appeal process was pushed back. Hatton settled his dispute with the DP World Tour in February to secure his Ryder Cup future but Rahm has yet to reach a deal and is, as things stand, ineligible for next year’s contest at Adare Manor.

Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley says the PGA Tour could play “hardball” over the possibility of players that defected to LIV returning to their former home.

“They got paid a huge amount of money to take a massive risk to leave behind the safety net, if you want to call it, of the tours behind them,” McGinley told Sky Sports.

“The tours are members organisations, so not alone were they going to LIV and getting paid a lot of money but they were harming the model that they left behind.

“At the time they all justified it as a tough business decision, and they made that decision looking out for themselves.

“So now, if this is the case, the roles will be reversed, and the (PGA) Tour can play really hardball back against them to say, ‘Sorry guys, your spots have been filled, and we’re going to play hardball in return’.”