Annika Sorenstam credited LIV Golf for forcing the PGA Tour to overhaul its format and raise its purses. But she doesn’t believe the league’s financial model was ever built to last.

The LPGA legend acknowledged that LIV’s arrival in 2022 forced the PGA Tour to raise purses and revamp its format. At the same time, she questioned whether LIV’s investment strategy could sustain itself beyond a few seasons.

"I mean overall, I think it had some positives but overall I think, you know, not really changed too much," Sorenstam told Fox News Digital in a recent interview when asked what legacy LIV Golf would leave behind if it folded before the next season.

"It certainly interrupted the game of golf. I think that's why we're seeing the changes on the PGA Tour. The purses have gone up, which obviously is great for the players," she told Fox News Digital during the same interview.

Since LIV launched in 2022, the PGA Tour has answered back with Signature Events. It began in 2023 and now includes eight events on the 2026 schedule.

Those events carry $20 million purses and no cuts, a clear move to keep top players from leaving. The Tour Championship also now pays official money, with a $40 million purse and $10 million to the winner.

The PGA Tour has changed in other ways too. It reduced full-time membership from 125 players to 100. And in June 2026, it approved a new two-tier system that starts in 2028.

Sorenstam likes that part where players have made more money.

LIV’s Unsustainable Model

Later in the same conversation, she said: “I don’t think anybody thought it was a great business model. There was a lot of money going into the sport, which I welcome, but it didn’t seem like there was a great investment. So I think it was hard to just maintain it.”

"I mean they don't see what they had before LIV was sustainable, apparently, and therefore they have changed a lot of things," she added during the same interview.

LIV Golf's UK-based arm, LIV Golf Ltd. — which handles the tour's business outside the United States — has bled money since its first season.

The Athletic reported that LIV Golf Ltd.’s UK losses reached $615 million in 2024, after losses of about $527 million in 2023 and $324 million in 2022. That pushed the total losses past $1.46 billion.

There are also report that says the PIF has already poured more than $5 billion into LIV since 2022, with the total expected to top $6 billion by the end of this season.

Still, LIV isn't shutting down tomorrow. And the players closest to it are, unsurprisingly, still selling confidence. LIV CEO Scott O’Neil is still pushing for fresh outside backing, and the goal is to keep a smaller 10-event schedule alive in 2027.

That's why Sorenstam added: "So interesting to see how it folds. "This year will be certainly telling. But we're already seeing players jumping ship and there."

What do you think happens to LIV Golf next year? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by

Md Saife Fida

Edited by

Koushik Biswas