LIV Golf has slashed the prize money for its season-ending event in Indianapolis (Aug. 20-23), the latest sign of financial strain on the Saudi-backed league as its primary funding source prepares to walk away at year's end.

The league's individual bonus pool has been cut from a planned $30 million down to $10 million, and its team bonus pool trimmed from $50 million to $30 million. The Indianapolis event's own purse falls to $10.1 million, with the winner's share dropping to $2.02 million — half of the $4 million a champion took home in 2025. The cuts follow LIV's cancellation of its planned $40 million Michigan Team Championship, meaning total prize money across what were supposed to be two season-ending events falls from roughly $70 million to $40.1 million combined.

The PIF Deadline Looms

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, LIV's primary backer, confirmed in April that it will end its funding after this season. LIV CEO Scott O'Neil says the league now has "an agreement in place with a lead investor" to help bridge the gap, though he has declined to name the investor, and the league is separately seeking $250-300 million in new outside capital, according to Golf.com.

PLANS CALL FOR A LEANER "LIV 2.0" — 10 EVENTS INSTEAD OF 14, WITH SMALLER PURSES.

Some players are reportedly still waiting on payment from LIV Golf's New York event, which wrapped August 9, adding to unease within the league's ranks as it heads into its uncertain offseason. CBS Sports reported the Michigan cancellation weeks ago as an early warning sign of the belt-tightening now playing out in Indianapolis.

League officials are already sketching out a restructured future widely referred to internally as "LIV 2.0": a slimmed-down 10-event schedule instead of the current 14, with purses recalibrated to a lower, more sustainable baseline. Golf News Net reports the restructuring is meant to keep the league viable regardless of whether new investment materializes in time.

LIV's financial retrenchment lands nearly three years after it burst onto the golf scene with record-breaking purses that drew top players away from the PGA Tour, funded almost entirely by Saudi oil wealth. Whether the league can sustain its roster of stars — many lured in part by guaranteed money — at meaningfully lower prize levels is now the central question hanging over Indianapolis and every event that follows it.