If Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund (PIF), was looking for a reason to pull its money out of the LIV Golf tour, he reportedly found it in Sergio Garcia\u2019s outburst at the Masters in April.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the claim in Friday\u2019s edition of The Financial Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIn April, as LIV golfers floundered at the Masters, golf\u2019s most prestigious tournament, Spanish star Sergio Garcia damaged the Augusta National course during a fit of rage in the final round,\u201d read the Times.\u00a0\u201cPeople familiar with the matter say Rumayyan\u2019s embarrassment at the sequence of events helped lead to his decision to pull the plug on PIF\u2019s financing of the rival tour, as the fund focuses more on its huge domestic commitments in the kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, one\u2019s first thought is likely that many factors led the PIF to pull its funding from LIV, which has consistently lost money<\/a> amid poor ratings<\/a> and bad PR<\/a> since its brief moment in the sun. However, when you look at the timing of everything, it kinda checks out.<\/p>\n A whole series of events from Sergio Garcia earlier on Sunday at the Masters \ud83d\ude33<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude2c Slams his driver in frustration \u2014 ESPN (@espn) April 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Garcia\u2019s meltdown, which included him slamming his driver in frustration, tearing out chunks of grass, and breaking it against a cooler, took place on Sunday, April 12, the final day of the 2026 Masters.<\/p>\n Rumayyan, whose desire to become a member of Augusta National has been well documented, was watching and was presumably not pleased with the behavior.<\/p>\n By that Wednesday, reports emerged that LIV was holding an \u201cemergency meeting\u201d<\/a> amid rumors that PIF was turning off the money tap and that the league was shutting down. The\u00a0Financial Times later reported that<\/a> PIF is \u201con the verge of cutting its support for LIV Golf.\u201d While LIV was in deep denial mode the next day<\/a> and the league said it would finish the season<\/a>, the die was cast, and PIF\u2019s move to stop funding the golf league<\/a> was official two weeks later.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\ude2c Breaks his driver against a cooler
\ud83d\ude05 Carries Jon Rahm\u2019s bag while Rahm\u2019s caddie tends to a bunker pic.twitter.com\/he09pvWuv8<\/a><\/p>\n