New LIV boss says PGA Tour deal will send sport to 'moon and back' / Photo: © GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP
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New LIV boss says PGA Tour deal will send sport to 'moon and back'
LIV Golf's new chief Scott O'Neil said Wednesday that Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) was "likely" to do a deal with the PGA Tour which would send the sport "to the moon and back".
Talks between PIF, which owns LIV Golf, and the PGA Tour have been under way since a "framework agreement" was unveiled in June 2023.
But they blew past a deadline of last December and have continued with little progress since, leaving top talent divided between the two circuits rather than under one banner.
There have been concerns about a Saudi investment in a US business by the Department of Justice.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan met US President Donald Trump last week to try and get a deal done.
"They (PIF) are likely to make an investment into PGA Tour Enterprises, a new structure that a collection of US investors invested in," O'Neil said in Adelaide on the eve of LIV Golf's second event of the season.
"For us at LIV, we are hoping that unlocks opportunity.
"That may unlock opportunity with markets, with courses, with marketing partners, with television networks, with growing the game, with competition opportunities, with new formats."
O'Neil, who took over from Greg Norman last month, insisted that interest in LIV Golf had never been stronger, with a series of broadcast deals signed in recent weeks, long an Achilles' heel for the breakaway circuit.
Over the last week, both the US Open and British Open announced they would offer a direct pathway for LIV Golf players to qualify for the majors in another sign of a thawing of tensions.
"So I'm excited about the agreement," said O'Neil.
"I think that right now we are going to the moon and back, and I hope that'll help as an accelerant, but I'm very confident in where we are in this business and the interest we have currently."
Norman was instrumental in setting up LIV in 2022 but was a polarising figure in the rift with the PGA Tour after a host of top stars defected.
O'Neil said the handover had been smooth, with Australia's Norman still involved.
"I spent quite a bit of time with him in my 30-day lead-up to this role and every day since engaging, asking questions and learning, and I hope that he is part of LIV forever," he said.
"It's quite a gift to have him as part of LIV."
S.Keller--BTB