Sydney lands Aussie golf major as key event forces big change to summer schedule<\/a><\/p>\nCEO of LIV Golf, Scott O’Neil walks through first hole during day one of LIV Golf Mexico City.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
LIV\u2019s first six events of the season have been played outside of the United States in Saudi Arabia, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa and Mexico.<\/p>\n
While the majority of the eight tournaments remaining on the LIV schedule will be played in the US, the league will also travel to Korea, Spain and the United Kingdom in the coming months.<\/p>\n
That global footprint is something O\u2019Neil envisages will expand further in the future with a bold goal to connect the five-year league with some of the sport\u2019s most historical tournaments.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are looking to blend a version of LIV and the great national opens around the world,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think they\u2019re the most under appreciated, under marketed, under developed assets in golf, and the reason is: it get us on the ground to grow the game of golf.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you want to bet on 340 million people or 7.5 billion people? I\u2019m taking a 7.5 billion person bet,\u201d he said earlier, referring to focusing on the US or the rest of the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cGolf should be seen around the world with some of the biggest stars in the game, and that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
CEO of LIV Golf, Scott O’Neil looks on during day one of LIV Golf Mexico City.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neil, who succeeded Greg Norman as LIV chief, also expressed his belief that the league can be financially viable going forward based on the numbers it has generated in recent times.<\/p>\n
He said that last year LIV collected more than $500 million in sponsorship revenue from premium brands like HSBC and Rolex.<\/p>\n
While, he tried to ward off the concerns about LIV\u2019s failure to secure big broadcast dollars by saying: \u201cWe\u2019re now in over a billion homes around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had five and a half million people tune in to our event in Australia where the great Anthony Kim won – the Rocky Balboa story of today,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the largest golf event in the history of the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe go to South Africa – the largest golf event in the history of a country – 100,000 people.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started the season with a 23-year-old, Elvis Smylie, coming out of the gate with Jon Rahm breathing down his neck and winning.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, of course, we have Jon Rahm and Bryson winning the last two.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have something special here.\u201d<\/p>\n
How that future looks remains unclear if the PIF do remove their funding.<\/p>\n
The sovereign wealth fund of the oil-rich kingdom released its five-year plan earlier this week and it focused more on investment in technology and artificial intelligence rather than sport.<\/p>\n
It also has been widely reported that with Saudi Arabia securing hosting rights for the 2034 men\u2019s FIFA World Cup, football is where they will continue to invest in the sport\u2019s world.<\/p>\n
But O\u2019Neil insists he is pushing forward with \u201cbusiness as usual\u201d and used a trip to The Masters last week to spell out his vision for the future to industry insiders. <\/p>\n
Joaquin Niemann nails INSANE hole in one | 00:43<\/p>\n
\u201cHow we go forward is what I\u2019m really excited about,\u201d said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI talked about some structural changes, they\u2019re coming. You can ask just about the 50 people I met at Augusta, I rolled out the plan. We have one and it might surprise some people.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis notion of bringing teams to market – I had two calls this morning. This notion of do we need to raise money? Probably. This is business.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if we keep the trajectory going the way we are, and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.\u201d<\/p>\n
O\u2019Neil later stated that it should not only be LIV people invested in ensuring the league continues into the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m a PGA Tour player, I want LIV to survive. These prize purses are pretty good. Competition is good for business,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, LIV opened the broadcast for its Mexico City event by trying to make a powerful statement.<\/p>\n
Commentator Arlo White greeted viewers by saying: \u201cWe\u2019re delighted to report that the reports of the imminent demise of the LIV Golf league were, in fact, greatly exaggerated.\u201d<\/p>\n
White\u2019s fellow commentator David Feherty then took his chance to attack the golf media who published reports in recent days of LIV\u2019s future being in doubt due to <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in the professional game for 50 years now and I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever had two or three days where there was more absolute nonsense spread out,\u201d Feherty said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere are still some writers and broadcasters that take pride in their work, but this generation has spawned fast typists that consider themselves to be experts, and evidently they\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n
LIV\u2019s defiant act then received a boost on the golf course with Joaquin Niemann opening the tournament with an ace on the par 3 fourth – his first hole in the shotgun start format.<\/p>\n
But then things turned dark.<\/p>\n
The broadcast has faced technical difficulties for more than two hours with none of the action from Mexico City being shown in that time.<\/p>\n
Viewers in some parts of the world were met by a blank screen with the message \u2018please stand by technical issues\u2019, while in Australia, Channel 7 opted to show a replay of LIV Adelaide as those inside the trucks in Mexico scrambled to get the problem resolved.<\/p>\n
When the broadcast resumed, Arlo White said they experienced a \u201csevere local power outage\u201d and hoped there would be no issues for the remainder of the round \u201cif the gremlins stay away\u201d.<\/p>\n
News also emerged on Friday morning of LIV facing a lawsuit in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
Sky Sports News\u2019 Amar Mehta reported: \u201cLIV Golf and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia have been sued by its predecessor, Premier Golf League.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a court filing from April 16, Premier Golf and it\u2019s parent company World Golf Group Limited have filed a lawsuit against the Public Investment Fund, Golf Saudi, various LIV Golf entities and two individuals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe case has been filed in the London Commercial Court.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Premier Golf League was a proposed breakaway golf circuit, distinct from LIV Golf, designed as a rival to the PGA Tour. It was first put forward in 2019 as a concept – before LIV Golf – and has continued to pitch to players as a middle ground between LIV and the PGA Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Premier Golf League held talks with Saudi investors about a financial partnership, but Golf Saudi instead funded a new entity in 2020 – which became LIV Golf in October 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n
LIV Golf’s Saudi funding set to end | 01:16<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, on the PGA Tour, Ludvig Aberg leads the RBC Heritage after an eight-under par first round 63.<\/p>\n
The world No.17 finished in a share of 21st at The Masters last week, but was unable to make a serious charges as rounds of 74 and 72 bookended promising Friday and Saturday rounds of 70 and 69 respectively.<\/p>\n
Regardless, the Swede feels there were enough positives to help him cash in this week in the US$20 million signature event at Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, I think obviously coming off last week, I felt like I was playing well but made some silly mistakes that prevented me from having a real chance,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cBut I also felt like in the grand scheme of things, I was swinging it nice, I was moving it nice, so I didn\u2019t have to prepare that much in terms of my golf swing on Monday through Wednesday, and I felt like good golf was in there. <\/p>\n
\u201cTo me, this week is more about sort of mentally being ready, mentally being charged coming off a couple of tough weeks. But hopefully I\u2019ll be ready to go this weekend, as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ludvig Aberg walks the 15th hole alongside caddie Joe Skovron during the first round of the RBC Heritage.Source: AFP<\/p>\n
Hot on the heels of Aberg are Harris English and Viktor Hovland after they both shot 64.<\/p>\n
While Matt Fitzpatrick, Michael Brennan, Gary Woodland, Ryan Fox, Rickie Fowler and Andrew Novak are all two shots off the lead after opening 65s.<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s Min Woo Lee and Karl Vilips both shot one-under par 70s to start their tournament.<\/p>\n
Jason Day is at the same mark as he plays the back nine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIV Golf CEO Scott O\u2019Neil went on the attack against the American golf establishment in a passionate defence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612107,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[297294,2095,6950,244250,1724,297300,64,63,689,241546,297296,297293,297297,2791,296683,297302,148595,296668,2057,755,9262,273664,5499,24846,297292,2184,234121,136997,2041,2067,3583,677,297299,296503,297301,6960,42357,14640,297303,140465,296688,2643,12005,8447,85,297298,143552,154362,3586,2614,12000,297295],"class_list":{"0":"post-612106","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-absolute-nonsense-spread","9":"tag-america","10":"tag-andrew-novak","11":"tag-arlo-white","12":"tag-asia","13":"tag-attacks-media","14":"tag-au","15":"tag-australia","16":"tag-australia-and-new-zealand","17":"tag-bombshell-means","18":"tag-breakaway-golf-circuit","19":"tag-broadcast-blunder","20":"tag-broadcast-fails","21":"tag-central-america","22":"tag-collapse-report","23":"tag-court-filing","24":"tag-david-feherty","25":"tag-doom-spiral","26":"tag-europe","27":"tag-golf","28":"tag-golf-course","29":"tag-golf-media","30":"tag-jason-day","31":"tag-joaquin-niemann","32":"tag-key-event-forces","33":"tag-mexico","34":"tag-michael-brennan","35":"tag-morning-australian-time","36":"tag-north-america","37":"tag-northern-america","38":"tag-northern-europe","39":"tag-oceania","40":"tag-premier-golf-league","41":"tag-price-stars","42":"tag-public-image-nightmare","43":"tag-rickie-fowler","44":"tag-ryan-fox","45":"tag-saudi-arabia","46":"tag-shotgun-start-format","47":"tag-signature-event","48":"tag-silence-breaks","49":"tag-sky-sports","50":"tag-sky-sports-news","51":"tag-south-carolina","52":"tag-sports","53":"tag-sydney-lands","54":"tag-technical-issues","55":"tag-unfortunate-time","56":"tag-united-kingdom","57":"tag-united-states-of-america","58":"tag-western-asia","59":"tag-world-golf-group"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612106","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612106"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612106\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612106"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612106"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612106"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n