It’s been a crazy week in the world of golf. PIF announced it would be pulling funding for LIV Golf at the end of the year, and there’s an internal scramble to keep it going, but everyone knows that the fat lady has already sung. Golf writers from many different publications have weighed in, and some of the articles are absolute scorchers.

Egotist Jon Rahm must shut up, pay up and play

According to James Corrigan of The Telegraph, Jon Rahm’s next move is pretty simple: stop complaining, pay the fines, and play.

Corrigan’s larger point is that Rahm deserves no sympathy here. He took LIV’s money, knew there would be consequences, and now his short-term future depends on whether he’s willing to pay what he owes to keep playing where he wants to play. But the long-term stakes may be even bigger. If Rahm handles this poorly, there’s a real chance his career is remembered less for the titles he won and more for the insane amount of money he chose to prioritize.

Highlight Quote: “Shut up, pay up and play.”

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As LIV flames out, let’s not forget those who were eager to sell golf to the Saudis

According to Eamon Lynch of Golfweek, LIV’s mess is not just on the players who took the checks. It’s also on the agents, executives, power brokers, toadies, and bootlickers around the game who were more than happy to help sell golf to the Saudis when the money was flowing.

Lynch takes aim at golf’s elite in this piece, and while he unfortunately stops short of naming names – so only golf insiders know exactly who he’s referring to – the message is pretty clear: a lot of people were willing to look the other way, cash the checks, and act like this was all just “growing the game.” Now that LIV appears to be running out of runway, none of them should get to quietly rewrite history.

Highlight Quote: “Like the guaranteed fees paid to players — Bryson DeChambeau expects his thirst to be slaked with a new contract soon — and $30 million purses for guys who couldn’t be identified as pro golfers in a two-man line-up if the other option was a corpse.”

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For LIV Golfers, the party is over

According to Michael Rosenberg of Sports Illustrated, LIV’s biggest problem may not be that the Saudi money is going away – it’s that the league might keep existing without it. Rosenberg argues that LIV’s entire model was built on endless cash, not actual business fundamentals. Now, with PIF pulling back and a new board trying to salvage whatever is left, the players may find themselves stuck in the worst possible version of LIV: less money, fewer options, and a league still trying to hold them to contracts. In other words, the fun part is over. The lawyers are up next.

Highlight Quote: “If O’Neil believes what he told employees, he is delusional. If he doesn’t believe it, he is a charlatan. Either way, he has the credibility of an 18-handicapper who says he will win next year’s Masters.”

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Can LIV Golf work without the Saudi billions? Sports investors predict a ‘free fall’

According to Gabby Herzig of The Athletic, LIV’s next challenge is pretty simple: find someone else willing to pay for the most expensive golf experiment in history. With Saudi PIF reportedly out after 2026, LIV is trying to sell private investors on the idea that there’s still a real business here. The problem, of course, is that the league has never really proven it can generate the kind of revenue needed to support massive contracts, huge purses, and a global schedule. So the question becomes: is anyone really interested in LIV without the blank check?

Highlight Quote: “The math is never going to work.”

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