LIV Golf Mexico City live updates: Golfers tee off, but stream fails

With questions about its immediate future addressed, LIV Golf is turning its focus to the task at hand: this week's 72-hole event in Mexico City.

Golfers are set to tee off Thursday, April 16 at Club de Golf Chapultepec in the wake of widespread rumors that swirled about LIV Golf possibly shutting down over the past couple of days. .

Then on Wednesday, sources close to Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund – which has poured an estimated $5.3 billion into LIV Golf since its founding in 2022 – told Reuters that funding for the remaining nine tournaments of the 2026 season would go ahead as planned.

USA Today Sports is providing live updates from LIV Golf Mexico City, with multiple reports suggesting the long-term future of this Saudi-backed golf league remains very much in doubt.

LIV Golf CEO talks on rumors

LIV CEO Scott O'Neill appeared on the LIV broadcast to speak on the rumors that LIV Golf would be shutting down. He claimed that things are currently "business as usual," and that the headlines seen recently are incorrect.

O'Neill claimed the future of the league is still strong, hinting at structural changes that "might surprise some people."

O'Neill then boasted that the league is still in a great position, stressing that LIV is now showing in "over a billion homes" worldwide. He also claimed that over 20% of LIV audiences are families, which was a point of pride for O'Neill. He finished off saying that he believes the league is still undervalued, but that there is certainly a bright future for the league.

Live stream out again

Well, as quickly as it returned, it disappeared. The LIV live stream from Mexico City has tuned out again, with the graphic displayed mentioning that coverage is continuing on FS1.

Live stream returns

After more than two hours gone, the LIV live stream from Mexico City has returned. The broadcast immediately got fans caught up letting fans known how Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau have performed.

The current leader is Victor Perez, who sits at 6-under through ten holes.

LIV finally comments on live stream difficulties

After two hours, LIV Golf has finally made a statement about their live stream technical difficulties, claiming local black outs are the reason for the outage.

LIV Golf says that they are looking for a solution but offered no information on when their stream may get back up.

LIV Golf leaderboard with live stream technical difficulties

Unless you're in Mexico City at Club de Golf Chapultepec, you aren't watching much golf at the LIV Mexico City event. The live stream is still down, with only few shots shown approaching the two-hour mark of scheduled coverage.

Victor Perez leads the tournament at 4-under through six holes and Jon Rahm, Cam Smith and Bubba Watson are among those in the top-10 on the front nine.

LIV Golf stream is down

Almost as soon as LIV Golf Mexico City began, its stream began experiencing technical difficulties and nobody has been watching much golf over the past hour. Apparently, it could resume soon. We'll keep you updated.

David Feherty blasts LIV Golf rumors as Mexico City event tees off

LIV Golf Mexico City officially teed off with its usual shotgun start on Thursday, and the broadcast made it a point to note any initial reports of its imminent demise were untrue.

"There are still some writers and broadcasters that take pride in their work, but this generation has spawned a bunch of fast typists, you know, that consider themselves to be experts, and evidently, they're not," said LIV Golf analyst David Feherty.

"Yeah, it must be exhausting, trying to will the LIV Golf League out of existence," LIV Golf broadcaster Arlo White added. "Take a day off everybody."

"All the noise and the chatter can stop and we can enjoy the golf," LIV Golf commentator Arlo White said as the FOX Sports broadcast began

OWGR's highest-ranked LIV golfers

When people think of LIV Golf, they probably think of Bryson DeChambeau first. Or maybe Jon Rahm comes to mind. They each have a major championship (won before they left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf) and they've been household names in the world of golf for several years.

But neither one is the highest-ranked LIV golfer in the Official World Golf Ranking. No, that honor belongs to England's Tyrrell Hatton.

Hatton, who tied for third at the Masters, jumped eight spots from No. 31. DeChambeau and Rahm each dropped one space in the ranking after Augusta. DeChambeau is now No. 25, while Rahm checks in at No. 31. Three others crack the top 100.

− Todd Kelly, Golfweek

LIV Golf CEO says 2026 season will go on 'as planned'

LIV Golf CEO Scott O'Neil, in a Wednesday email to LIV Golf staff, said that the tour's 2026 season will continue "exactly as planned."

ESPN obtained the email from O'Neil. It says, in part:

"I want to be crystal clear: Our season continues exactly as planned, uninterrupted and at full throttle. 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," O'Neil added, per ESPN. "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."

O'Neil did not commit to anything beyond the 2026 in his email.

Can LIV Golf stars return to PGA Tour?

LIV Golf disrupted professional golf's status quo when it began poaching players and holding its own tournaments in 2022, backed by the hefty wallet of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). It created division within the sport as several notable former major tournament winners elected to take historic pay days to defect from the PGA Tour. 

Now that it appears the Saudis are backing away from supporting LIV Golf beyond the 2026 season, the question turns to what happens with its biggest stars, such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm.

The process won't be straightforward, and not simply because PGA Tour officials and existing PGA Tour golfers don't necessarily want them to return. Circumstances and initial status awarded by the Tour will depend on the golfer, and on what terms they left. — Mark Gionnotto