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LIV Golf has taken another hammer blow. The PGA Tour and DP World Tour have announced a sweeping new global alliance with the Asian Tour — a circuit that had been a cornerstone of LIV's international infrastructure — with the partnership confirmed during meetings at last week's The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
McIlroy Backs Tours' Global Alliance
Masters champion Rory McIlroy welcomed the move on social media, calling it positive news and praising the tours for working together for the good of international golf. The PGA and DP World Tours already held a strategic alliance, now extended until at least 2029, having previously been at risk of expiring next year.
The Asian Tour partnered with LIV back in 2021, offering a promotion and relegation pathway into LIV's $30m events and providing playing opportunities for stars who had been banned by the PGA Tour. Under that arrangement, the top two on the Asian Tour's order of merit earned promotion to LIV for the 2026 season. That pipeline is now severed.
LIV Loses Key Asian Tour Partnership
The timing could not be worse for LIV boss Scott O Neil, who is chasing $350m in investment to keep a circuit — featuring Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau — afloat after Saudi Arabia withdrew financial backing having pumped in more than £3.75bn across LIV's first three years. O Neil had earmarked Asian Tour stops as central to a revamped global schedule. Those stops are gone.