{"id":653814,"date":"2026-05-06T18:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/653814\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T18:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:06:08","slug":"scott-oneil-expresses-optimism-in-liv-golfs-future-amid-pifs-plans-to-pull-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/653814\/","title":{"rendered":"Scott O\u2019Neil expresses optimism in LIV Golf\u2019s future amid PIF\u2019s plans to pull funding"},"content":{"rendered":"

LIV Golf CEO Scott O\u2019Neil pointed to \u201cearly outreach from potential investors\u201d and said that he was \u201cencouraged by what he had heard from players and described himself as energized by the challenge ahead,\u201d according to Rick Maese of the WASHINGTON POST. O\u2019Neil declined to address whether purses \u201cmight shrink in a post-Saudi model\u201d or whether the PIF would \u201cremain responsible for the handful of player contracts that extend beyond 2026.\u201d He would \u201cnot outline a timeline for securing new investment or speculate on how LIV\u2019s format might change.\u201d He added that he \u201cremains bullish\u201d on LIV\u2019s team structure, adding that will \u201cremain central to the organization and its pitch to investors.\u201d O\u2019Neil: \u201cThese teams will have extraordinary value.\u201d Maese wrote O\u2019Neil must \u201cfigure out how to retain top talent while building something more sustainable than a model fueled by billions in Saudi investment.\u201d LIV Golf player Jon Rahm<\/a> said, \u201cI do believe that for the business plan to change, whatever they\u2019re coming up with, there will need to be some concessions on our part.\u201d What those concessions \u201cmight entail — smaller purses, reworked contracts or a reduced schedule — remains unclear.\u201d O\u2019Neil discussed how he will \u201cguide the series through its next phase: create a business plan, get players on board and then take LIV to market in search of long-term investors.\u201d He suggested that plan will \u201cneed to come together in the next few weeks\u201d (WASHINGTON POST, 5\/5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

YOUR CALL: O\u2019Neil said that he would \u201cnot stand in their way\u201d if LIV Golf players were to \u201csupplement their schedules with other tours.\u201d O\u2019Neil: \u201cWe have never, since our inception, ever restricted our players. That\u2019s from bans, from fines, not us. Nope, go play where you want to play. We believe in free golf, free agency of golf.\u201d He added, \u201cWe believe that players should play when they want and where they want so long as they sign up for these 14, and we\u2019ll be sticking to that\u201d (GOLF DIGEST, 5\/5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

COMMITMENT GOING FORWARD: GOLF\u2019s Alan Bastable wrote one could \u201cfeel the buzz about LIV\u2019s uncertain future, from the players, the caddies, the media, the staff, the volunteers driving carts.\u201d There is \u201cno question there\u2019s still commitment, just not from the PIF\u201d as it is \u201cnow coming from O\u2019Neil and the fleet of bankers and advisors he has recruited to help him find new investors.\u201d It is a \u201ctall order but one O\u2019Neil says he\u2019s ready to embrace.\u201d A source mentioned that there is \u201ca sense of \u2018worry\u2019 among LIV players, particularly those less established players who, should LIV not survive, could find themselves with nowhere to play, at least in the short term.\u201d There is \u201calso a possibility that the league lives on but with smaller purses and contracts.\u201d Rahm said, \u201cI do believe that for the business plan to change, whatever they\u2019re coming up with, there will need to be some concessions on our part.\u201d LIV Golf player Caleb Surrat was asked whether he would be \u201cwilling to make concessions.\u201d He said, \u201cI don\u2019t think any of us know what those concessions may be or if there is going to be any at all, right? I think there\u2019s multiple ways it can go.\u201d Tuesday looked \u201cmuch the same as past LIV events; there were no obvious signs of financial duress\u201d (GOLF, 5\/5<\/a>).<\/p>\n

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE: LIV golf player Cameron Smith said that he \u201choped the tour would be able to find a path forward with new backing.\u201d Smith: \u201cWe do a great job of growing the game around the world. Bringing out new fans and letting people enjoy golf.\u201d He added, I know the team are working hard behind the scenes. They\u2019re doing everything we can for us. I\u2019m excited. I know Scott O\u2019Neill is really excited for the challenge in the coming months\u201d (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 5\/6<\/a>). SI\u2019s Bob Harig noted the PIF\u2019s decision to halt funding of the league came as a \u201csurprise and leads to understandable questions about its future.\u201d LIV Golf player Graeme McDowell said that he \u201cwould not be opposed to downsizing, in the number of tournaments and prize money, in order to make it work.\u201d McDowell: \u201cAt the beginning, no doubt, there was a lot of excess. It was maybe a little too flashy on some levels.\u201d He added, \u201cI don\u2019t know where this is going to go. There\u2019s a lot of players out here that if this goes away, they\u2019ve got nowhere to go. Do they deserve that? Is that their own fault?\u201d (SI, 5\/5<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIV Golf CEO Scott O\u2019Neil pointed to \u201cearly outreach from potential investors\u201d and said that he was \u201cencouraged…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":653815,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[64,63,755,14239,85,2261],"class_list":["post-653814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-liv-golf","tag-sports","tag-sustainability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653814","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=653814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/653814\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=653814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=653814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=653814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}