LIV Golf finally admits Team Championship is canceled

LIV Golf has canceled its Team Championship, scheduled for Aug. 27-30 at The Cardinal in Plymouth, Mich., after weeks of tour officials insisting the event would take place as scheduled.

LIV’s announcement on Monday made official what had become increasingly obvious: that the championship — originally envisioned as the highlight of the breakaway tour’s season and its entire team-focused model — was not going to happen, even if LIV officials had repeatedly denied reports to the contrary and kept the event on the public schedule.

The Cardinal showed no signs of construction in recent weeks, including the grandstands and hospitality areas that dominate every professional golf tournament. LIV only stopped selling tickets last week, days after Fox Sports, LIV’s U.S. broadcast partner, removed the event from its TV listings.

At least three LIV players — Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin and Adrian Meronk — went so far as to make alternate plans, putting themselves on the entry list for the DP World Tour’s British Masters, which is held the same week.

This is the second event to be canceled in the wake of the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund’s (PIF) decision in April to withdraw future funding for the upstart league. One of the first moves was to “postpone” the event scheduled for New Orleans in June, citing the summer heat in Louisiana and the attention that would otherwise be on the World Cup. Both were known issues well before the event was scheduled.

On Monday, LIV announced that the team champion will be determined during this week’s event in Indianapolis. “By concluding the season now, we can put our full resources behind what comes next and maintain the operational rigor this transition demands,” LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil said in a statement.

LIV also announced that its planned post-round concerts for Indianapolis, featuring country singer Thomas Rhett and DJ Disco Lines, have been canceled, citing “unavoidable changes in the entertainment program.”

O’Neil has been pitching a “LIV 2.0” to private investors, hoping to keep the league afloat with a new business model — fewer events and smaller purses, with players given a majority equity share in hopes they’ll continue to play on the rebel circuit.

But LIV’s plans have absorbed one direct hit after another in recent weeks.

The Asian Tour announced last month that it will partner with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour moving forward. LIV had previously worked with the Asian Tour to give playing opportunities to its golfers, as well as to meet requirements to receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points.

And the DP World Tour has notified players to expect financial penalties if they attempt to play on both tours in 2027, citing its conflicting events rule.

The league has faced deep uncertainty around its future since losing the PIF’s support — a move that also saw PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan step down from the league’s board of directors. In response, LIV brought in an independent board, with two new members, Gene Davis and Jon Zinman. Davis is the CEO of a consulting firm that specializes in turnaround management, with past and current clients that include Spirit Airlines and Weight Watchers.

There are ongoing financial liabilities as well. Mobii, which produced LIV’s “Any Shot, Any Time” feature on its broadcasts, sued the golf circuit for $1.13 million for outstanding unpaid invoices and breach of contract. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Miami last month, alleges that LIV paid all of its bills in 2025 but stopped making payments this year.

LIV filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) on July 8 in New York, a legal step that is necessary for potential layoffs.

The Athletic‘s Brendan Quinn and Brody Miller contributed to this report.