Anirban Lahiri Boldly Claims LIV Golf Stars Would Retire Rather Than Returning to PGA Tour

LIV Golf will lose the financial support of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia after the end of the 2026 season.

Anirban Lahiri Boldly Claims LIV Golf Stars Would Retire Rather Than Returning to PGA Tour

Anirban Lahiri (Image via Olympics)

LIV Golf star Anirban Lahiri believes some of his league mates would rather retire from the sport than return to the PGA Tour. As the league turns its attention to the event in Virginia, the Indian golfer proceeded to drop a bold claim.

Last week, the LIV Golf league officially confirmed the news regarding the Public Investment Fund (PIF) pulling its plug. Reports had emerged that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund was going to stop funding the breakaway tour after the 2026 season.

This led to several speculations regarding the future of the league. While CEO Scott O’Neil has expressed confidence in the circuit and spoken about structural changes coming to the tour, there are some wondering whether it will survive without the financial backing of the Saudis.

Amidst this, reports emerged that several LIV Golf stars had started to reach out to the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour regarding a potential return. Many of them had previously resigned from their membership to play on the LIV Golf circuit.

Lahiri, however, laughed off the theory that his league mates were seeking a way to return to the PGA Tour. In an interview with The Times, the Crushers GC star expressed that he knows at least a dozen players who would rather quit professional golf than go back to the PGA Tour.

That is the biggest joke ever. I will not name names, but I know at least a dozen players who’d rather not play golf than go back to the PGA Tour.

Anirban Lahiri said regarding LIV Golf

One player who was willing to call it a day was Thomas Pieters. In a conversation with Dan Rapaport a few days back, the 4Aces GC star expressed that he was ready to retire from golf after he heard rumors about the PIF withdrawing its funding.

Another one who is not keen on returning to the PGA Tour could be Lahiri’s team captain, Bryson DeChambeau. The 2-time major champion is one of the biggest names on the LIV circuit and is in the final year of his contract. Earlier this week, he also dropped a huge statement.

In an interview with ESPN, the American claimed that he would focus on growing his YouTube channel and increasing his social media popularity instead of returning to the PGA Tour. The golfer currently has 2.69 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.

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Anirban Lahiri labels rumors of LIV Golf stars returning to PGA Tour as propaganda

The PIF’s withdrawal of its funding of LIV Golf is undoubtedly a major blow to the breakaway tour. With no financial support from them, there is some uncertainty regarding the future of the league. Anirban Lahiri, though, believes that rumors of some of them returning to the PGA Tour are “propaganda“.

LIV Golf star Anirban Lahiri
Anirban Lahiri (Image via Golf Monthly)

Even before this massive decision regarding PIF came out, there had been talks of some LIV golfers exploring options of leaving them and returning to the tour. With Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed leaving them, there were speculations that the likes of Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm could be next.

While speaking with The Times, the 38-year-old golfer claimed that this was something that he and the others had been hearing for the past 4 years.

To generalise that everybody is falling over backwards to come back to the PGA Tour is the same kind of propaganda we’ve had for four years.

Aniban Lahiri said regarding LIV Golf

As per reports, Lahiri has made around $35 million since joining LIV Golf. Meanwhile, he made around $8 million in his 9 seasons on the PGA Tour, with his best performance coming at The Players Championship in 2022, where he finished as the runner-up to Cameron Smith.

Speaking of the LIV Golf Virginia event, the 2-time DP World Tour winner fired a score of 3-over par in the opening round. As a result of this, he is T50 in the standings after the play on Thursday.

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