Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) is cutting funding for the breakaway LIV Golf league after the 2026 season, a spokesperson from the fund told AFP on Thursday.

The announcement came hours after LIV Golf, founded in 2021 as a rival to the PGA Tour, said it was seeking to secure "long-term financial partners".

It has reportedly cost PIF over $5 billion so far to operate the series after signing many of the world's top players, including Major winners Bryson DeChambeau and Spaniard Jon Rahm.

Saudi's powerful wealth fund, however, said funding for the project would be axed as PIF looked to pare back a string of projects in the kingdom with the war in the Middle East raising fresh speculation about investment priorities moving forward.

"PIF has made the decision to fund LIV Golf only for the remainder of the 2026 season," a spokesperson for the fund said in a statement provided to AFP.

"The substantial investment required by LIV Golf over a longer term is no longer consistent with the current phase of PIF's investment strategy."

LIV said earlier on Thursday it was searching for new financial backers.

Earlier this month, PIF announced its 2026-2030 strategy would reorganise the fund's investments.

The announcement came as the kingdom and wider Middle East has been upended by the ongoing war in the region.

The Gulf was hit hard by Iranian barrages on infrastructure, including airports, energy installations and ports, following the US and Israeli attack on Iran in late February.

But even before the war, Saudi Arabia's economic reforms were coming under pressure, with persistently low oil prices in recent years shrinking government revenues and triggering deficit spending.