LIV Golf's future is in serious doubt after its Saudi backers, who have already ploughed more than $5bn (£3.6bn) into the breakaway league, pulled their funding, leaving this week's season finale in Indianapolis as a possible last event. BBC Sport found a strange mood of surface-level optimism masking deep uncertainty among staff, players and volunteers, with leadership publicly clinging to hopes of a "LIV 2.0" relaunch while insiders privately warned things would "get worse before it gets better".

Any revived league would keep the familiar shotgun-start, team-based format but operate under far tighter financial discipline, with overall losses from this era running into billions of dollars. BBC Sport has confirmed the prospective new investor is Ted Goldthorpe of BC Partners, who is examining the league's finances and met players in Indianapolis, though he avoided media. Plans reportedly include selling team franchises, drawing "significant interest", and cutting the schedule to around 10 events a year across five continents, with chief executive Scott O'Neil insisting the aim is to make LIV "built to last".