LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil announced an agreement Wednesday with a lead investor that would allow the rival league to forge ahead without the backing of Saudi funding while making players major equity holders.
O'Neil did not identify the investor, only that it has signed an agreement that was approved by LIV's board and signals “the path forward for the League's next era, driven by and for the players.”
O'Neil said LIV is getting “strong interest” from more than a dozen other parties who would be minority investors as the league tries to survive. They spoke on the eve of LIV Golf New York at Trump Bedminster, the penultimate individual tournament.
LIV is to play in Indianapolis on Aug. 20-23. The season-ending team championship in Michigan has been in doubt for several weeks, mainly because the course has not even begun setting up for a tournament scheduled to start in three weeks.
LIV Golf, which launched in 2022 with the financial backing of the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, paid nine-figure bonuses to lure top players like Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm away from the PGA Tour, offering $20 million prize funds.
But it all began to fall apart earlier this year when PIF said it would no longer fund LIV Golf after the 2026 season. One event in New Orleans already was scrapped.
O’Neil met with team captains on Tuesday, and DeChambeau led a player-only meeting later in the afternoon, though none of the players shared details.
O'Neil said he expected to finalize terms with the lead investor in the next few weeks with the goal of getting it done in September. The plan for what is being referred to as “LIV Golf 2.0” is for 10 team events each year, five of them in the United States and five others around the world.
It also wants to stage events leading into the majors and having a schedule that allows its player to compete on other circuits. Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton already play on the European tour. The PGA Tour still has a one-year ban on anyone competing on LIV.
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Captain Bryson DeChambeau, center right, of Crushers GC hits from the first tee during the second round of LIV Golf United Kingdom, Friday, July 24, 2026, in Rocester, England. (Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via AP)
Here's a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East on Wednesday. Full coverage can be found here.
For the first time in weeks, Israel's military told residents of an area in Lebanon to evacuate. The military said it was in response to what it described as “a blatant violation of the ceasefire” by the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
In a post on X, military spokesperson Lt. Col. Ella Waweya told residents of Mansouri to immediately move at least 1,000 meters (yards) north of the village to open areas. The military later said it was conducting “precise strikes” in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s health ministry said one person was killed and 12 wounded in an Israeli strike in the town of Tebnine.
The escalation came as Lebanese and Israeli negotiators met in Rome for a second day to discuss implementation of a deal under which Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw from areas they occupy in southern Lebanon in exchange for Hezbollah's disarmament.
A shaky ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has largely held since June 20. The fighting erupted two days after the Iran war began when Hezbollah fired at Israel.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz could come as early as Wednesday.
Iran and Oman, the country on the other side of the strait, are inching toward an agreement on the critical waterway that could ease pressure on the global economy and potentially help end the war.
The U.S. and Israel launched the war on Feb. 28, citing goals including toppling Tehran’s government and ending its nuclear program. But the conflict has devolved into a fight over the strait as Iran asserts control and its attacks on shipping have brought traffic to a near-halt. The U.S. recently reimposed a blockade on Iranian ports.
Closure of the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas passed before the war, has driven up the price of fuel and related goods far beyond the region, roiling the global economy.
Trump is under mounting pressure to end the unpopular war ahead of midterm congressional elections later this year.
The U.S. lifted sanctions on three Iran-linked companies. A Treasury official said it came after an appeal and was not indicative of any shift in U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the sanctions.
One company is Fly Baghdad Airlines, sanctioned in January 2024 for allegedly providing assistance to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and Iran-backed armed groups in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Sanctions also were lifted on Iraq Express and another Fly Baghdad-linked firm.
— Fatima Hussein in Washington
A Lebanese man reads a copy of the Quran inside a damaged house in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A Lebanese man checks a destroyed house in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
Israeli military vehicles, left, are seen stationed among homes in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah, occupied by Israeli forces, is seen from the southern village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A Lebanese man removes debris from his destroyed house in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, south Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
A Lebanese man points to Hebrew writing left by Israeli soldiers inside his destroyed home in the village of Zawtar al-Gharbieh, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026.(AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)
