LIV Golf is parachuting in a heavyweight team of financial advisers to help it secure a multi-billion dollar funding lifeline after its Saudi sovereign backers left its future hanging by a thread, according to Sky News' Mark Kleinman.
Kleinman has learnt that LIV Golf has hired restructuring experts at the consulting firm AlixPartners to help draw up a fresh business plan aimed at securing external investment.
Sources close to the sport said LIV Golf was also days away from retaining a leading investment bank to assist with the series' capital-raising efforts as it kicks off talks with prospective investors.
Confirmation that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is pulling the plug on its funding of LIV Golf at the end of the season has sparked a scramble to salvage a competition featuring some of the world's best golfers, including Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau.
Insiders said AlixPartners' engagement by LIV Golf was also likely to be interpreted as a move to draw up contingency plans for a winding-down or insolvency process at the end of the year if new investors cannot be identified in the coming months.
One source insisted, however, that the firm's involvement was about devising "a well-developed, credible financial plan to potential investors", while acknowledging that the company's board would "evaluate all options for LIV".
In a statement issued to Sky News, a LIV Golf spokesperson said: "LIV Golf has engaged experienced advisers across disciplines to identify and secure long-term strategic investment partners and guide us through our next phase."
LIV Golf's Saudi backers have spent billions of dollars trying to establish the breakaway tour as the pre-eminent global force in one of the world's most popular sports.
After writing massive cheques to lure some of the world's top players away from the PGA Tour, however, the prospect of it becoming profitable has remained a distant one.
Rahm, for example, signed up to the LIV tour in return for a reported $300m (ÂŁ222m) payment, with other players also receiving huge sums to defect.
Now in its fourth full season, the LIV Golf League consists of 13 teams competing for individual and team titles at leading golf courses around the world.
Its tournaments feature 57 players from 21 different countries competing in 10 countries and five continents.
This week, LIV Golf announced the appointment of two restructuring specialists - Jon Zinman and Gene Davis - to its board of directors as it attempts to appeal to external backers for the first time.
"LIV Golf has built something truly differentiated - a global league with passionate fans, world-class talent, and demonstrated commercial momentum," Davis said.
"The executive leadership team, along with Jon and I, see a clear opportunity to help the league formalise its structure, attract and secure long-term capital, and position the business for growth while continuing to promote the game across the world.
"We look forward to positioning LIV Golf for future success."
The Saudi withdrawal had been on the cards for several weeks, with LIV Golf's chief executive Scott O'Neil insisting the series had a viable future.
This week, however, its tournament in Louisiana, which was scheduled to take place in late June, - which is being staged in the US, Canada and Mexico - would impact spectator attendance and viewing figures at the golf event.
The search for new investors is likely to be a fraught one, given LIV Golf's huge spending commitments and its reliance to a large degree on sponsors connected to the Saudi state.
It had already begun exploring the sale of stakes in individual teams, with bankers at Citi advising on that process.
LIV Golf was the most prominent among a string of sporting formats devised with the backing of Saudi's vast sovereign chequebook in recent years as the Gulf state has sought to exert greater global influence.
The country has also sought to play a major role in the financing of boxing, while .
PIF said earlier this week that it had "made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season".
"The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF's investment strategy.
"This decision has been made in light of PIF's investment priorities and current macro dynamics.
"The LIV Golf board has created a committee of independent directors to evaluate strategic alternatives for its future beyond PIF's funding horizon.
"LIV Golf has substantially grown the game globally through its transformational and positive impact.
"It has forever changed the game of golf for the better.
"PIF remains committed to deploying capital internationally in line with its investment strategy, including its substantial current and future investments in various sports as a priority sector."
