LIV officially cancels team championship event in Michigan amid funding debacle

LIV has officially canceled its season-ending team championship event and will bring a tumultuous season to an end this weekend at LIV Golf Indianapolis, the league announced Monday.

This confirms what was first reported last week by The Telegraph. The circuit’s 13 teams had been scheduled to compete for a $40 million prize pool on Aug. 27-30 at The Cardinal at Saint John’s in Plymouth, Michigan.

LIV will now crown the individual season champion, the team season champions and Indianapolis champion at its Aug. 20-23 tournament at the Club at Chatham Hills in Westfield, Indiana.

It’s the second tournament canceled since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund announced that it would not continue backing LIV Golf after this season. A $30 million tournament in New Orleans, which had been scheduled for the end of June, was also scrapped.

LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil announced last week that the league had reached a deal with a “lead investor” to sustain operations into next season. O’Neil said this cancellation will allow LIV to begin building toward that future, which is reportedly a funding deal with private investment firm BC Partners.

“By concluding the season now, we can put our full resources behind what comes next and maintain the operational rigor this transition demands,” O’Neil said in the press release announcing the news.

As the Saudi funding ceased over the last few months, LIV reportedly owes back pay to multiple contractors in video production, data collection, merchandising, and food and beverage operations, according to a report by Front Office Sports.

LIV reportedly owes between several thousand dollars and nearly $100,000 to multiple vendors. The organization is currently being sued by one of these vendors, Mobil Systems Group, which is seeking more than $1.1 million for breach of contract, unpaid invoices and interest after creating LIV’s “Any Shot, Any Time” technology.

While Jon Rahm of Spain has already clinched his third consecutive LIV individual championship, the team title is very much up for grabs at this week’s event.

Captain Dustin Johnson’s 4Aces GC currently leads the LIV Golf team standings with 149.50 points, followed by Ripper GC with 147.25 points and defending champion Legion XIII with 145.00.