LIV Golf nears endgame as Saudi patience with losses runs out

LIV Golf appears to be closing in on the 18th hole. The Saudi-backed league that once turned professional golf inside out is set to lose its primary funding from the Public Investment Fund after this season, The Wall Street Journal reports.

That would effectively end the experiment that saw billions poured into signing top players and staging rival tournaments, as the kingdom reassesses where sports investments fit into its broader economic strategy.

An announcement by the PIF could come as early as Thursday, the Journal reports.

The New York Times reported two weeks ago that the sovereign wealth fund was planning to pull the plug soon.

LIV is now scrambling to line up outside investors, but any rescue is unlikely to preserve its current scale after years of heavy spending on stars like Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.

The likely outcome: a downsized version of LIV, or the quiet demise of one of the most expensive failed game changers in modern sports.