Asian Tour CEO Details $20M Hit From LIV Golf Funding Exit

Asian Tour CEO Cho Minn Thant says the circuit lost about $20 million in event funding this year after Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund withdrew its backing from LIV Golf in April, forcing the tour to abandon its International Series and align instead with the DP World Tour and PGA Tour.

What happened to the Asian Tour's LIV Golf partnership?

The Asian Tour had built its schedule around the International Series, a run of LIV-funded events that lifted prize purses and strengthened its playing fields over five years. Thant said the tour was working through the early stages of a five-year extension with LIV Golf when the PIF's withdrawal in April left the International Series without a guaranteed budget for the rest of 2026.

With LIV unable to commit to funding the series through year-end, the Asian Tour opened talks with the DP World Tour in the following weeks, and the PGA Tour joined those discussions soon after.

How is the new partnership structured?

The Asian Tour and DP World Tour reached broad terms around The Open Championship in July. The agreement includes co-sanctioned events, a playing pathway onto the DP World Tour, and looser restrictions that let the Asian Tour collaborate more freely with other tours aligned to the DP World Tour network, including the Australasian Tour, the Sunshine Tour and the PGTI.

How have Asian Tour prize funds changed?

"It's been devastating to our tour, to be quite honest."

Thant said the tour holds no ill will toward LIV Golf, which he credited with raising purses and playing standards across the Asian Tour over the past five years, but that the abrupt funding gap forced the tour to move on and plan its 2027 season.

Thant said the commercial side of the deal matters as much as the playing pathway. Sponsors already working with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour have interests across Asia, he said, and he expects some of that spending to extend to Asian Tour events.

How healthy is the Asian Tour right now?

Thant said the top end of the Asian Tour is strong, with several tournaments raising their own purses this year to compete with the International Series events they replaced. His bigger concern is the pipeline: with six or seven fewer International Series starts available, the tour has fewer spots to develop Q-School graduates and players coming up through the Asian Development Tour.

What's next for the Asian Tour?

Thant wants the Asian Tour to grow to 30 tournaments a year, up from the 20 to 21 it typically runs, with at least half staged as standalone full-field events rather than co-sanctioned ones. He said 2027 will largely be a rebuilding year, with the tour aiming to return to full strength in 2028.