Sergio Garcia responds to LIV Golf rumours as PIF reportedly plan to cut funding

Sergio Garcia said LIV Golf players will only listen to what the chairman tells them amid rumours that the future of the Saudi Arabia-backed league is in doubt.

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 Tyrell 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.

Former Masters winner Sergio Garcia, one of the captains of the LIV teams, was asked about the speculation ahead of this week’s event in Mexico City.

“Honestly, we haven’t heard anything other than what Yasir (Al-Rumayyan, LIV Golf chairman) told us at the beginning of the year,” Garcia said at a press conference.

“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 by the Press Association, 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.