The Financial Times reported in April that the Saudi Public Investment Fund would cease financing LIV Golf, and the outlet said Sergio Garcia’s behavior at the Masters was part of the backdrop to that decision. According to the report, people familiar with the matter said Yasir Al-Rumayyan’s embarrassment over the sequence of events helped lead him to pull the plug on PIF’s financing.
The claim adds a new layer to a story that has already been shaped by golf, money and politics. PIF is a $900 billion sovereign wealth fund, and the report suggested it can shift priorities quickly when broader strategic interests change. The article also noted that LIV Golf’s funding problems may reflect those wider geopolitical and strategic priorities, not just incidents tied directly to the sport.
Why Sergio Garcia’s name is part of the story
The Financial Times pointed back to a history of Garcia-related incidents that had already created tension. In 2019, Garcia was disqualified from the Saudi’s tournament after defacing five greens in a mid-round tantrum. Then in 2022, he reportedly shouted, “You’re all f——-d, you should have taken the Saudi money!” at fellow players in a European locker room. That same year, he was also caught on a hot mic saying, “I can’t wait to leave this tour.”
Those episodes matter because they show the reported LIV Golf funding decision was not being framed as a single isolated reaction. Instead, the article connected Garcia’s conduct to a broader sense of embarrassment and frustration around the project, especially at a time when PIF was moving through a five-year strategic plan announced one week before the LIV shiv was delivered, with no mention of sports.
What it means for LIV Golf
The report does not suggest Garcia alone drove a major funding call, but it does show how public incidents can resonate far beyond the course. For LIV Golf, the Financial Times’ account ties one player’s on-course and off-course behavior to a larger question: whether the league’s future is shaped less by golf strategy than by PIF’s changing priorities.
That is why the story has drawn so much attention. It is not just about a tantrum at Augusta National or a harsh quote in a locker room. It is about how those moments may have fit into a broader decision by a powerful backer to rethink one of golf’s most expensive projects.
