(Photo credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images)

LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil has assured the league's players that the 2026 season will continue as planned amid speculation that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund may be preparing to cut its financial support.

A 'high-ranking' league source told bunkered.co.uk that 'funding and operations for LIV Golf are continuing as planned' for at least the remainder of the 2026 schedule. The site also said it had viewed O'Neil's email to players ahead of Thursday's start to this week's event in Mexico City.

'I want to be crystal clear: our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle,' O'Neil's email read. 'While the media landscape is often filled with speculation, our reality is defined by the work we do on the grass. We are heading into the heart of our 2026 schedule with the full energy of an organization that is bigger, louder, and more influential than ever before.

'The life of a startup movement is often defined by these moments of pressure. We signed up for this because we believe in disrupting the status quo. We have faced headwinds since the jump, and we've answered every time with resilience and grace. Now, we answer by doing what we do best: putting on the most compelling show in sports.

'The noise you hear is simply the sound of a movement that is working. Embrace it. We are pioneers, and while the road isn't always smooth, the destination is worth every mile.

'Let's go out and show the world why LIV Golf is the future of the game.'

That followed a social media post on X earlier Wednesday evening that read, 'Slow news day? We are ON!,' with a graphic teasing 'breaking news tune in tomorrow' to be announced at 3:15 p.m. ET.The status of the event, and the future of league itself, was called into question with a report Wednesday morning that league executives had been summoned to New York City for an emergency summit.

The Financial Times reported that PIF could make an announcement as soon as Thursday about cutting its support for the league.

Press conferences in Mexico City were canceled on Tuesday with the league citing power outages, but Sergio Garcia's Fireballs GC did hold their scheduled session with the media on Wednesday.

Asked about the rumors of LIV being on the verge of shutting down, the Spaniard said, 'Honestly, we haven't heard anything other than what (PIF governor and LIV Golf chairman) Yasir (Al-Rumayyan) told us at the beginning of the year. That he's behind us, that they have a long-term project.

'You know how these rumors are. There are always a lot of them. And I can't tell you anything more than what we already know.'

All outward appearances indicated the event was proceeding as planned, with LIV posting tee times for 14 cities in different time zones around the world in the post on X. Shortly after, additional posts were made in advance of the Mexico City event.

The Athletic reported earlier Wednesday that some members of the LIV leadership team were told after the Masters on Sunday that they would soon lose their positions. LIV leaders didn't respond on Wednesday to The Athletic, who were asked to leave by the front desk when visiting the entity's New York offices.

According to the report, O'Neil has been seeing ways to salvage some version of the league, perhaps with a smaller budget or without financial backing from the PIF.

The PIF has reportedly poured more than $5 billion into LIV Golf since it launched in 2022, luring stars including Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson with lucrative contracts and massive tournament purses.

LIV Golf's potential demise would not come as a total shock given the circuit's stagnant television ratings and its inability to attract marquee players of late, coupled with the recent departures of Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed back to the PGA Tour.

After Mexico City, there are nine events remaining on the schedule in LIV Golf's fourth season.

--Field Level Media