The playing futures of superstar Cameron Smith and his all-Australian Ripper GC team are in doubt amid reports the multi-billion-dollar LIV Golf league could be on the verge of collapse.
The Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) was close to cutting its backing for LIV Golf although no final decision had been made, while The Telegraph said LIV executives had been called to an "emergency meeting".
LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil has issued an email to players reassuring them the remaining nine tournaments of the 14-event 2026 schedule will go ahead as planned.
However, the email did not address reports that PIF might stop investing in the breakaway circuit after spending more than $US5 billion since its inception in 2022, or whether the league would continue beyond this season.
"I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle," O'Neil wrote.
"While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before."
LIV Golf's sixth tournament of the year is in Mexico, starting on Thursday.
"The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure," O'Neil continued.
"We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we've answered every time with resilience and grace.
"Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports."
Five-time major winner Brooks Koepka quit LIV earlier this year to return to the PGA Tour, while former Masters champion Patrick Reed also walked away and is competing on the DP World Tour as he bids to return to the PGA Tour.
If the rumours are true and LIV does end up folding, it will leave Smith and Ripper teammates Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert and Elvis Smylie in golfing limbo.
Smith, the 2022 British Open champion, who has missed the cut at the past six majors, including last week's Masters, is a stakeholder in Ripper GC.
Smylie only joined the team this year, holding off former Masters champion Jon Rahm down the stretch to win in just his second start at LIV Riyadh in February.
Through big-money contracts and lucrative purses, LIV managed to lure several of golf's biggest names, including Koepka, Jon Rahm, Smith and fellow major champions Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau.
But it has also been decried as a vehicle for Saudi Arabia to attempt to improve its reputation in the face of criticism of its human rights record.
While LIV has struggled to make major inroads in the big US market, LIV Golf Adelaide set a record in February as the highest-attended golf tournament in Australian history with more than 115,000 fans, while last month's tournament in South Africa attracted more than 100,000, another national record.
- with Reuters
