LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil cannot guarantee that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund would fund the remainder of the league’s 2026 season, but he said LIV was glad to take the investors at their word.
O’Neil was interviewed on CNBC Tuesday, several weeks after the PIF confirmed they were pulling funding from the five-year-old golf circuit after this year.
“I can say they’ve been terrific partners so far, and you have to take an incredible organization like PIF at their word,” O’Neil said. “They’ve been very public about funding us through the season, so we are full steam ahead.”
O’Neil was pressed on recent reports that LIV’s final four events this season may not go on as planned as PIF ponders pulling its funding even sooner. One tournament, LIV Golf Louisiana, was scheduled for the final week of June but was postponed not long after the initial news about PIF.
With PIF backing away and its governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan stepping down as LIV Golf’s chairman, the league has begun wooing new investors, reportedly seeking around $250-350 million in investment capital to kickstart a “LIV 2.0” plan.
O’Neil, a longtime sports executive in his second year as LIV’s CEO, was asked directly whether he could guarantee the final four events in England, New Jersey, Indianapolis and Michigan will take place this summer.
“What I can guarantee is a heck of a return if you come invest in this business,” O’Neil replied.
O’Neil went on to say that he feels LIV has “incredible business momentum.
“What we don’t have is a lot of time, so we’re very urgently out there talking to those who are interested,” he said.
With the Louisiana event postponed, LIV Golf has a six-week hole in the schedule this summer before it’s set to return at LIV Golf UK from July 23-26.
–Field Level Media
