LIV Golf has officially confirmed the cancellation of its season-ending Team Championship, which had been scheduled to take place from August 27 to 30 at The Cardinal in Plymouth, Michigan, according to a Nytimes report. The announcement on Monday followed weeks of tour officials insisting that the event would proceed as scheduled, even as the venue showed no signs of tournament construction such as grandstands and hospitality areas.
LIV Golf Cancels Season-Ending Team Championship in Michigan
The cancelled Michigan finale — originally envisioned as the highlight of the breakaway tour’s season and its entire team-focused model — marks the second tournament scrapped following the decision by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) in April to withdraw future funding for the league. An earlier tournament scheduled for New Orleans in June was previously postponed. With the cancellation, LIV announced that the team champion will instead be determined during the circuit’s event in Indianapolis.
Strategic Ticketing Silence and Internal Maneuvers
Internal communications revealed that LIV managed the cancellation quietly before making a public statement. According to an internal email viewed by GOLF.com, LIV’s head of ticketing and hospitality, Michael Drobnick, instructed staff to keep the ticketing page live with no inventory available, displaying a message that tickets were no longer available, in an effort to maintain the appearance that the event might still happen.
While the league continued to distribute promotional emails encouraging ticket purchases, players had already begun adjusting their schedules. At least three LIV players—Tyrrell Hatton, Tom McKibbin, and Adrian Meronk—made alternate plans by entering the DP World Tour’s British Masters, which is being held the same week. Additionally, planned post-round concerts in Indianapolis featuring country singer Thomas Rhett and DJ Disco Lines were called off due to what the league cited as unavoidable changes in the entertainment program, with concert information subsequently scrubbed from the league’s website.
Broader Tour Turmoil and Financial Pressures
The league has experienced continuous upheaval since losing financial backing from the PIF, a shift that also included PIF chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan stepping down from the board of directors. In response, LIV appointed an independent board featuring two new members: Gene Davis, CEO of a turnaround management consulting firm, and Jon Zinman.
Financial liabilities and legal actions have mounted alongside the leadership changes. Mobii, which produced LIV’s broadcast feature, filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Miami against the golf circuit for $1.13 million in outstanding unpaid invoices and breach of contract, alleging that LIV stopped making payments this year after paying bills in 2025. Furthermore, LIV filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) on July 8 in New York to prepare for potential layoffs.
Amid these operational shifts, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has been pitching a revised business model dubbed “LIV 2.0” to private investors, featuring fewer events, smaller purses, and majority equity shares given to players to keep the rebel circuit operating.
