When Jon Rahm allegedly signed a $500 million deal with LIV Golf, his contract sent shockwaves throughout the golfing community. Reports say it included an upfront payment of $300–450 million, performance bonuses, and co-ownership of a LIV Golf team. This new team was an addition to the 12 teams of the LIV Golf league. The team included notable stars like Tyrrell Hatton and Caleb Surratt.
Rahm’s move followed LIV’s early playbook. Initially, LIV Golf lured in PGA Tour players with huge financial promises. The 2-time major winner’s record-setting payday was a glimpse of this strategy. But things have changed now. In a conversation with bunkered.co.uk, Martin Kaymer, a fellow LIV Golf captain, said that LIV Golf is taking a different approach now. It no longer offers massive upfront guarantees due to financial losses faced by the league.
According to Golfweek, operating losses increased from $244 million in 2023 to $394 million in 2024. These losses are piling up. Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund (PIF) has reportedly spent $1 billion in LIV Golf UK alone. The numbers in the USA are estimated to be far worse. The current investment the PIF made in LIV Golf stands at around $3.9 billion, and it could easily increase to $5 billion by the end of 2025.
Kaymer’s team, Cleeks, ended the 2025 season in 12th position. Their rookie, Frederik Kjettrup, didn’t score a single point. Since Frederik was relegated after the 2025 season, Kaymer is on a hunt to fill the vacant position on his team. But he is looking for someone who wants to improve the performance of the team and not just their personal bank balance.
“People are just thinking about the rumours of millions of dollars left, right and centre. We are not that kind of team. Of course, you get paid well if you play well, but not just because you put a signature on a contract,” Kaymer told bunkered.co.uk. Instead, Martin wants to build a team based on performance. He is even following in the steps of the Ryder Cup stat guru Edoardo Molinari to find a player who complements the team.
The LIV Golf captain reflects on the early days of the league. In fact, money played a significant role in influencing Jon’s decision. “There are a lot of things that LIV Golf have to offer which were very enticing, starting with team golf,” he said in an interview with Fox News. “Obviously, it (the money) is a factor and it’s an important one in this decision,” he continued.
It’s been close to two years since Rahm joined LIV in December 2023. But unlike earlier, LIV Golf has had no major 9-figure deals with players since then. Emphasizing the same, Martin said, “Not only come here just for a big paycheck, and LIV are not going to do that anymore. They are done with those big paychecks. With every new-starter you invest at the get-go, but once you establish yourself, they don’t need it anymore.”
Martin is right to say that golfers don’t need huge upfront signing bonuses if they perform well. LIV Golf events have large enough prize pools, just like the PGA Tours, to be enticing.
For instance, at the 2025 LIV Golf Indianapolis event, the winner, Sebastián Muñoz, took home a substantial $4 million payout. Jon Rahm, who scored an equal 22-under par but lost to Sebastián in a faceoff, secured second position and won $2,250,000. And the third place holder, Dustin Thomas, received $1,500,000. For the team events, the winning team got $3 million, and the runner-up received $1.5 million. The prize money is pretty much the same for all the LIV Golf events.
Comparatively, most PGA Tour events have smaller prize money. While the TOUR Championship gave the winner, Tommy Fleetwood, $10 million, many other events, like the BMW Championship, the Procore Championship, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, etc., made winners achieve less than $4 million.
LIV Golf is refraining from offering enormous sums to attract players now, but things were completely different when it was hiring golfers for the inaugural Invitational Series in June 2022. The Saudi PIF had poured billions into LIV back then. Jon’s contract shows the peak of the big-money era. Some players even say that LIV Golf is biased towards Rahm. But many before him have sealed 9-figure deals with LIV Golf.
Golfers like Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, and Dustin Johnson have all made over $100 million upfront pay deals. These sums were unprecedented in golf before LIV Golf entered the picture. Giving golfers a guaranteed 9-figure income regardless of their performance was unheard of.
The upfront payment of LIV Golf players is reducing, but that’s not the only change. LIV Golf is making many other changes before the start of the new season.
Changes in the LIV Golf approaches
These changes have come in since Scott O’Neil became the new CEO of LIV Golf in January 2025. One of the primary changes O’Neil made was to change the league’s slogan. From ‘Golf, But Louder,’ he changed it to ‘Long LIV Golf.’ “Let’s go be partners… let’s grow this game of golf,” he said when revealing the new slogan and the intentions behind it.
LIV Golf is also focusing on financial stability and revenue growth. As said earlier, LIV Golf is operating at a significant loss. Therefore, the focus has now shifted to partnering with the right companies for long-term growth and success. In July 2025, Flushing It made a post on X revealing Scott O’Neil claimed their revenue increased 10x year-over-year.
The leagues also landed a landmark broadcast deal with Fox Sports. Since its inception, this is the first stable broadcast deal with a major network. The aim was to increase LIV Golf’s visibility and commercial value. O’Neil states that LIV Golf has not finished evolving, and fans can see many more changes to its approaches over the years.
LIV Golf is making the shift from paying substantial amounts to focusing on long-term partnerships to grow a steady audience. It is making structural changes and trying to talk with the PGA Tour so both leagues can grow the sport together.