‘Knew before the players': Rory McIlroy had jump on bombshell LIV news
LIV's players might not have heard whispers that the PIF was pulling its funding after the 2026 season.
Rory McIlroy at the Truist Championship last week. getty images Among the lingering questions about the Saudi Public Investment Fund’s decision to stop funding LIV Golf after the conclusion of the 2026 season is when exactly the fund landed on its decision. The news of the PIF’s withdrawal first began to trickle out on April 14 by way of a tweet from Ryan French , who runs Monday Q Info, before gathering steam in the ensuing days via reports from several outlets.
The PIF officially announced its decision on April 30. At the 2026 Masters, which concluded on April 12, LIV players seemed oblivious to their backers’ pivot. That included the league’s biggest star, Bryson DeChambeau, who told me at LIV Virginia last week that during Masters week he was wholly in the dark about what was about to become public information.
“No clue, zero clue,” DeChambeau said. “And then there were reports of me talking to other [PGA Tour] people, and I definitely wasn’t. During the Masters and right after, I had not talked.
” This is where things get a bit weird, because, according to Rory McIlroy , players outside of LIV were hearing whispers about the PIF’s decision before the Masters. “I feel like a lot of us in this room, including me, we almost knew before the players did that this was going to happen,” McIlroy said from the PGA Championship on Tuesday. “I was hearing about this back in March, April time.
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