[Photo: Hector Vivas]
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil faced reporters at LIV Golf Virginia for the first time since Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund confirmed last week it would no longer fund the league after 2026 and that the PIF governor, Yasir Al-Rumayyan, had stepped down as LIV Golf’s chairman.
In that time, LIV’s scheduled event in Louisiana for June was postponed to the fall. LIV also unveiled a new board led by Gene Davis and Jon Zinman.
Now readying for the sixth event of a turbulent season, O’Neil spoke to the press at Trump National Golf Club in Washington, D.C. His session came a day after the league announced it had retained Ducera Partners LLC as its investment banking advisor to find investment partners.
“Was I surprised? I don’t know, it’s hard to even think about that moment,” O’Neil said about when he learned PIF would cease funding after 2026. “So I’d rather not comment on how I actually felt, my emotion. I can tell you that it was very clear 18 months ago that, for this to be a growing concern, we were going to have to make significant and substantive changes to the way we do business.
“Guys, remember, when my phone rings, it’s never the case that everything is going well. I am not a status quo manager. I never have been. Like this is what I do … so, it would be naive to be surprised, and it would be irresponsible to be thinking anything else other than how far we have to go to make sure that we can continue to grow this game around the world.”
O’Neil was also asked about the possibility of prize purses being significantly reduced from the current offering of $30 million per event, $20 million for the individual tournament purse and $10 million for the team portion.
“I definitely will not be talking through specifics of the plan, but it’s a pretty, it’s a playbook that won’t surprise too many people once you see it,” O’Neil said. “We have a good runway through this season, fortunately, and it’s for next year that we’re going to be making some pretty significant, substantive changes. If you can piece together what I’ve said over the last six months, there won’t be too much surprise in terms of what you find.”
[Photo: Hector Vivas]
As LIV restructures, a pertinent question becomes how it can retain its biggest names if the prize purses were reduced; LIV counts Bryson DeChambeau, Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson and Cameron Smith among its group.
“Our view of what got the players here, I wasn’t here when most of the players came in, I have been here when players have come in, and they’re coming for very different reasons,” O’Neil said. “I’d encourage you to ask them why they’re here. Some of them, sure, came for money. Others are here for very different reasons, and I appreciate that.
“You’ve got 57 players from 21 different countries all looking for something in their lives … others are chasing fame, others are chasing legacy and career, others are looking for more predictability and a schedule. There are a whole host of others that want to travel the world. So, I definitely don’t want to take 57 guys and pigeonhole them into what they care about. I think that would be irresponsible.”
If LIV golfers were to supplement their schedules with other tours, O’Neil said he would not stand in their way. On Tuesday, Rahm announced he and the DP World Tour had come to an agreement for the Spaniard to continue playing on the European circuit after settling his fines for playing in conflicting events.
“We have never, since our inception, ever restricted our players,” O’Neil said. “That’s from bans, from fines, not us. Nope, go play where you want to play. We believe in free golf, free agency of golf.
“We believe that players should play when they want and where they want so long as they sign up for these 14, and we’ll be sticking to that.”
One topic O’Neil was somewhat clearer on was whether there will be competitive changes to the league in 2027.
“We’ve changed pretty dramatically in my two seasons here, and I’ve been on the record saying the format changes won’t stop, and we’ll continue to evolve to optimise the business,” O’Neil said. “So I would not be surprised to see a continued evolution in our format.”
Finally, O’Neil was queried about LIV’s biggest drawcard, two-time U.S. Open champion DeChambeau.
“You want to talk about a business partner, we’re literally talking about the future of LIV Golf, I’m talking with him about how does he see, not just the golf, but the business,” O’Neil said. “He’s smart, he’s driven, he’s committed, and he’s a heck of a partner.”
