Richard Bland: LIV Golf’s future is down to the players

LIV golfer Richard Bland has said the future of the league will rely on “player support” with members still in the dark as to what will happen going forward.

In early September LIV filed for bankruptcy protection with at least $45m (£33m) owed to players.

This followed news in April that the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) would end its multibillion dollar backing of the tour at the end of the season, leaving the future of the series in doubt.

In August, the tour announced it had secured an unnamed lead investor to keep the competition running in 2027, a proposal widely branded as ‘LIV 2.0’.

Southampton-based Bland joined in 2022 and admitted he is yet to definitively know what will happen going forward.

“The funding is all there,” he told BBC South Today.

“Once everything does get sorted out with LIV 1.0 it’s then down to player support and who is going to sign up for the new league.

“Even though the funding is there, theoretically there’s no guarantee that LIV 2.0 will continue if they don’t have the player support.”

Since entering the sport in 2021, LIV has signed some of the biggest names in golf, with Bryson Dechambeau and John Rahm among the notable figures to leave the PGA Tour for the lucrative venture.

According to Bland, a meeting took place at the start of the year where players were told that tour would be financially backed for the next six years.

But in April around an event in Mexico, reports started to emerge that this would not be the case as PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan stepped down from the board.

“We were told in Riyadh in around late January that the league was going to be funded through to 2032,” Bland added.

“That was from Yasir as well, so from the horse’s mouth so to speak.

“Everyone came away from that player meeting really positive and excited for the future, then four months later in Mexico to find out that the tour was going to get wrapped up, a lot of guys couldn’t believe it.

“It’s very sad and it’s been a very difficult journey to navigate, more so for staff and Scott [O’Neil, LIV CEO] to forge a pathway forward, we’re still a bit in the dark with how it’s going to be going forward.”