LIV Golf CEO sends pointed message to Rory McIlroy and PGA Tour after Tiger Woods comments
LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil criticized the PGA Tour on the same day that Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy spoke about a possible merger between the two leagues
LIV Golf chief executive Scott O’Neil has fired a message to the PGA Tour following renewed hopes over a possible merger.
The golf world has been split since the launch of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf in 2022. Some of the biggest names in golf, including Phil Mickelson, Jon Rahm, and Bryson DeChambeau, made high-profile moves to leave the PGA in favor of the new league. The divide has meant many top LIV players are often not eligible to compete in the majors. The framework for a merger was agreed upon in June 2023, though no deal has been finalized.
President Donald Trump recently met with the PGA to discuss the sport’s future. However, while golf icon Tiger Woods has spoken positively about the potential merger, LIV Golf CEO O’Neil fired a fresh shot as he compared the league’s star names to the PGA.
“The way we talk about it internally is, ‘This is now the ceiling, we want it to become the floor. How do we lift it?'” O’Neil explained during LIV Golf Adelaide on Sunday.
“We have some amazing cities coming up. We’re back in Mexico, but this time in Mexico City. We’re heading to [South] Korea. Those are two golf-starved markets that I think we have a chance to start to build. It doesn’t happen overnight, but you have a public-private partnership, corporate support. You have fans that want it.”
Comparing LIV to the PGA, O’Neil added: “You don’t have to look too far past our leaderboard to know that, outside of the majors, if you want to see the best players in the world, there’s only one place to see it and that’s at LIV.”
