An interview with LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil was deleted and re-posted without a key detail about the breakaway league’s future in an eyebrow raising move.
TNT Sports posted an interview with the former Philadelphia 76ers chief executive on social media, which was recorded during the first day of LIV’s Mexico City, where O’Neil acknowledged the Saudi-funded league’s financial situation.
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Reports circulated far and wide this week that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund are set to withdraw their funding for LIV Golf.
The development comes after the oil-rich kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund released its new four-year plan with a greater focus on investing in technology and artificial intelligence.
On the eve of the Mexico City tournament, it was reported that O’Neil reassured players and staff that funding would continue for the remainder of 2026.
That is not something LIV has been eager to share publicly, however, and was the crux of the deleted section of O’Neil’s interview with TNT Sports.
“The reality is you’re funded through the season and then you work like crazy to create a business plan to keep us going,” O’Neil said.
“But that’s not different from any other private equity-funded business in the history of mankind.”
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Many in the golf world took that line as a clear suggestion that the Saudis have indicated their cut-off point.
While O’Neil’s passionate words about the future of LIV in an interview with LIV commentator Arlo White could also have been interpreted as a pitch to potential investors.
The deletion of the post and the re-posting by TNT Sports with the removal of that line was the latest incident in what has been a tumultuous week for LIV.
After the reports of their impending demise dominated headlines for several days, LIV’s Mexico City event began on Friday morning Australian time in the worst possible fashion.
Five shots were shown on the broadcast before the feed dropped around the globe.
It took two hours for the broadcast to return to screens as LIV lamented a “local power outage” for the problem.
On the course, a big issue emerged on Saturday morning Australian time as Bryson DeChambeau spat the dummy.
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DeChambeau hit an errant shot out of a bunker, across a green and into a section of the Playa del Carmen resort course where the grass was bare.
The two-time major winner, who missed the cut at The Masters last week, then unloaded a verbal tirade for about a minute.
In a video taken by a spectator at the course, DeChambeau could be heard complaining to his caddie and called over a rules official to try receive relief from a patch of ground that he believed was not up to standard.
“You got destroyed grass… oh this is rough,” he said.
“Guys this is what we’re playing on apparently!”
DeChambeau stands as arguably LIV’s biggest drawcard and O’Neil said that the American loves LIV and is on board going forward despite the clock ticking on his contract, which expires at the end of the season.
Jon Rahm plays his shot from the 15th tee during day two of LIV Golf Mexico City.Source: Getty Images
Meanwhile, Jon Rahm is not letting the dark cloud that hangs over LIV get him down.
The Spaniard leads in Mexico City by one shot from Harold Varner III, Tom McKibbin and Matt Wolff at 10-under par after 36 holes.
After his opening round, the 2023 Masters winner said he was not “wasting time” on the reports about LIV’s future.
“Until the people in charge told me whether or not the rumours were true, there was no point in dwelling on it or wasting time thinking about it,” Rahm said.
“We were here, we knew we were going to play, so the idea was to prepare for a tournament. That’s all.
“Since everything happened so suddenly and quickly, I wasn’t too worried about it because we usually know something before the rumours even start.
“There’s always someone in the league who knows something. It was so fast that I wasn’t really worried about it.”