It was a moment that will go down in golf history as the moment LIV Golf 1.0 — and potentially LIV Golf’s existence, period — ended.
There was Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, the breakaway league’s two biggest stars, shaking hands and embracing on the first green at The Club at Chatham Hills in Indianapolis after Sunday’s final round of the final event of LIV’s tumultuous 2026 season. Rahm and DeChambeau have come to define the story of the league’s five-year run. They were the LIV’s biggest fish — one who jumped on board immediately and the other who joined later and ultimately ended any chance of a unification between the PGA Tour and LIV.
One star was all the way in, preaching the virtues of team golf while being LIV’s biggest champion. The other dominated its tournaments but always seemed in conflict with the Faustian bargain he made to leave the PGA Tour, to which he had sworn “fealty.” In the end, as LIV stood on shaky ground after the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund announced it would pull funding after the 2026 season, DeChambeau and Rahm were the two figures holding the keys to the possibility of a LIV 2.0. Without its big-name stars, any potential investor would be unlikely to invest millions in the outfit’s next phase.
As our Sean Zak detailed on the ground, last week in Indianapolis was all about LIV’s uncertain future, the players who appeared to be heading for the exit, the questions that had gone unanswered and the decision in front of DeChambeau and Rahm. So while Michael La Sasso triumphed Sunday, the real story was what happened after he was sprayed with champagne and after DeChambeau and Rahm embraced.
After a T3 finish, DeChambeau was asked about LIV’s future and his role in it. He initially spoke positively about the potential for LIV 2.0 before sounding as if he had seen the writing on the wall.
“I think there’s a lot of potential moving forward. It’s been an interesting ride, that’s for sure,” DeChambeau said. “You know just as much as I have everything that we’ve gone through and the tough moments that we’ve had. But it’s made us stronger.
“As much as we’re transitioning from LIV 1.0 to 2.0, I have great thoughts about what could happen next year. I wish I could be more up front about it. But ultimately I’m proud of the fact of what we’ve done, the good and some of the bad that we’ve unfortunately had, things that have occurred. I’m going to be real with it; not everything was perfect. But for the most part we’ve done a solid job. If there’s one thing that I could say, it’s we did something different in the game of golf, and I’m proud of that.”
Then came a bizarre scene that was a first for LIV. “Golf But Louder,” as it was initially dubbed, has been defined by the over-the-top celebrations that accompanied each big-money win. With the team finale in Michigan being canceled, Sunday in Indianapolis also served as the team championship. Rahm’s Legion XIII won that title for the second straight year, but this time the celebration was muted. Rahm shook LIV CEO Scott O’Neil’s hand briefly and took the trophy as he and his teammates got on the makeshift stage. But as soon as they took their places, Tyrrell Hatton and Tom McKibbin started to climb down before the champagne was sprayed. According to The Fried Egg Golf, McKibbin and Hatton both sent messages with their walk-up songs this week — Hatton electing “I Want To Break Free” and McKibbin choosing “Breaking Free” — as they prepare to exit the league.
Asked about his subdued tone in the celebration, Hatton said he was ready to leave … literally.
“I think anytime you win is great,” Hatton said. “As I said, we’ve been able to do that the last few years a number of times, and we’ve had a great time together doing it. I just want to get to the airport because I have a flight to catch, so that would be great.”
Rahm was asked about what he was looking forward to as he planned his pro-golf future, but the two-time major champion evaded the question, which spoke volumes.
“I’m looking forward to going home and helping my very pregnant wife with the kids because it’s a 3-v-1 right now. It’s probably a 4-v-1 with the one that’s due in October,” Rahm said. “Happy to be dad for a few days before I get back for the Irish Open, but mainly looking forward to a haircut tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. because I need one badly.”
As for his performance during his three-year run with LIV, Rahm, who made $105.6 million in his LIV Golf career on course, kept it short.
“I think I was saying, both team and individual aspects, mission accomplished,” Rahm said.
Earlier in the week, O’Neil expressed confidence to reporters in LIV’s future, citing players’ ability to own equity in the league and the plan to have five team championships overseas and five individual tournaments in the United States. O’Neil said he had a “good level of confidence” that LIV would retain the right number of high-quality players to continue. O’Neil also said there would be a deadline for players to commit to LIV 2.0, but did not specify when that would be.
But O’Neil’s confidence was overshadowed by a bizarre week in Indianapolis, where LIV 1.0 ended amid a shroud of questions about its potential future, with Rahm’s evasive answer still hovering above The Club at Chatham Hills as the buildouts were taken down on Monday.
Then came a cryptic Instagram post from DeChambeau on Monday, featuring a carousel of his winning LIV moments and the caption “It was a good run.”
LIV Golf 1.0 ended Sunday much differently than it began. There were no concerts or parties or extended celebrations. Just a pack of well-paid golfers heading for the airport while O’Neil tried to plan his next move to keep it afloat. There was Rahm’s dodging when he would’ve previously expressed confidence; there was Hatton trying to break free as the champagne popped; and there was DeChambeau’s white-knighting for LIV’s future before suggesting the opposite on social media.
There were just questions about LIV’s future and what it all had been for if this was indeed the end.
