LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil acknowledged the fledgling golf league’s finances are “very tightly controlled” and said structural changes are on the way, but he remained adamant Thursday that the league will not happen.
O’Neil was interviewed by LIV staff on TV coverage of the first round of LIV Golf Mexico City, a day after the Financial Times reported that Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund was about to cut its funding to the league it helped launch in 2022.
O’Neil, who has been in the role for 16 months after succeeding former LIV CEO Greg Norman, did not address Saudi Arabia or its funding in the interview.
“For us, it’s business as usual,” O’Neil said. “If you wanted to ask me if this business is difficult, I would say absolutely. If you asked me if we are very tightly managed, I would say absolutely. Could this be a challenge? Well, and that’s what we signed up for, not just me, you, everyone here who is with us in Mexico City. We signed up for this event, and it’s a round trip, or should I say a lifetime.”
O’Neil’s publicists and LIV have teased the report and subsequent rumors. At the top of the announcement, David Feherty called the reports “absolute nonsense” while Arlo White portrayed LIV as the victim, adding, “It must be exhausting trying to keep the LIV Golf league from happening.”
As for O’Neil’s interview, he appeared to confirm that LIV executives met in New York this week while dismissing the idea that they were “called” on everyone’s hotline.
