LIV Golf Put Out a ‘Security Alert’ on a Reporter Who Attended Tournament Amid Shutdown Rumors

LIV Golf, Jon Rahm

(Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)

LIV Golf allegedly put out a “security alert” on a reporter who was at the company’s tournament in Mexico to cover pervasive shutdown rumors.

Last week, multiple outlets reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — which operates LIV — was preparing to pull funding from the company and effectively shut it down. That speculation came as LIV Golf was preparing for its tournament in Mexico City. Aside from a persistent power issue at the site, the tournament was business as usual.

As rumors began to swirl that LIV could be coming to an end, The Athletic’s Brody Miller went to Mexico City in an effort to get answers from organizers. That’s when he had an unusual interaction with a security guard who revealed the company was keeping an eye on him. In a Monday morning report, Miller said:

But as I walked the property Friday, I was stopped by a LIV security worker. He pulled out his phone and showed me a company chat with a large photo of my The Athletic headshot and said I needed to come with him. I asked if there was some sort of security alert sent out on me, and he said yes, there was on Thursday. I don’t know how they even knew I was on the property Thursday, but I certainly wasn’t sneaking, as my goal was primarily to run into a LIV official and talk. I explained I was just given a credential that morning, which greatly surprised him. He made two calls to ask, and I overheard him say, “Oh, he’s OK now?” before he let me go.

Miller added that LIV executives denied knowing anything about the supposed security alert.

It wasn’t LIV’s first questionable incident involving the media. Last year, the company pulled a reporter’s credentials for his refusal to edit out questions about Saudi funding in an interview with golfer .