LIV CEO Scott O’Neil’s plea: ‘Golf doesn’t need one tour to win’

WESTFIELD, Ind. — LIV Golf needs its players to bring a deal home. To keep its players, it needs cooperation from the rest of golf.

LIV CEO Scott O’Neil placed a call to action Wednesday for the “guardians and stewards” of men’s professional golf to end longstanding friction and allow his golfers to play on their tours without penalty.

“It’s complete, not compete,” O’Neil said before LIV’s season finale just outside of Indianapolis. “Golf doesn’t need one tour to win and everyone else to lose.”

The public appeal stems from O’Neil’s vision for a “LIV 2.0” built around 10 events, down from the 14 originally planned for 2026 and the 12 it will actually contest. But most competitive golfers expect to play closer to 20 events each season, especially to earn qualification for major championships.

What incited this theme in his news conference Wednesday? Last week, The Athletic reported the DP World Tour — the European tour that many LIV players use to round out their schedules — is threatening to reimpose heavy-handed fines and tournament suspensions as part of its conflicting events rule. It essentially told those considering recommitting to LIV not to expect a free pass to play both tours.

So O’Neil directly called out Stuart Cage, a former DP World Tour golfer who now acts as a player liaison.

“Stuart Cage, apparently he called a bunch of agents of our players and some of our players directly,” O’Neil said. “I don’t know him. I’ve met him once, but I don’t know him. I’m sure he’s a wonderful guy.

“But I’d encourage you to direct those questions to the leadership at the European Tour. It seems counter to where the golf is going, but I can’t answer for them.”

The DP World Tour did not comment on O’Neil’s remarks, but a source briefed on the matter, speaking anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly, told The Athletic it was Cage receiving calls from LIV golfers exploring their options. Those calls, according to the source, included both LIV golfers who are already DP World Tour members and others who are not.

Cage advised the players they should not predicate any decision on getting conditional releases for 2027, the source said, although it considers all release requests on a case-by-case basis.

O’Neil specifically said he was not referring to PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp. The PGA Tour has never allowed players to move freely between it and LIV.

So much of O’Neil’s plan after the Public Investment Fund’s announced exit in April has centered around national opens and tapping into global markets in Australia and South Africa, plus a longstanding relationship with the Asian Tour. But in recent months, the PGA Tour has established its own deals with the Australian Open and Asian Tour, and recommitted to expanding its “strategic alliance” with the DP World Tour — deals that have damaged LIV’s viability.

Most global bodies are working together — but excluding LIV Golf.

This all comes at crunch time for LIV and its hopes for a future. O’Neil admitted he is under a “compressed timeline” to get a deal done. While details of any deal remain unclear, multiple sources have told The Athletic the tour’s lead investor is BC Partners head Ted Goldthorpe, who spoke to players Tuesday in a meeting outlining his vision for LIV. O’Neil said the hope is for a lead investor with limited partners coming in behind and players taking on equity.

But O’Neil conceded any deal depends on the current roster committing to LIV 2.0, and multiple players leaving the meeting Tuesday said they still have little idea what their futures hold.

“The entirety of our focus is to get to this transaction and get through it,” O’Neil said. “Without the players, that becomes very difficult. I have a good level of confidence in my conversation that we’ll have a critical mass of the right players to move this league forward.”

From a distance, it appears investors are waiting on a commitment from players, while players are waiting on assurances of investment. It’s a game of chicken, and no one has yet blinked. O’Neil said there is indeed a deadline for player decisions, but he would not elaborate on when that deadline is.

That sets up the importance of peace with other leagues.

“We’re not asking anyone to choose between LIV Golf and the rest of the game,” O’Neil said. “We’re asking something much simpler: Can LIV add something valuable to golf? Think about it. Four years ago, people could reasonably debate it. But today I think the evidence is increasingly more clear.”

Surprisingly, given the current fiscal realities, O’Neil said if those leagues do not allow LIV’s players to play both, then he will need to build more events.

“If you look at some of the feeder tours and what their prize money is, it’s simple enough for us to build events around our events and host them and bring people in,” O’Neil said. “We just want to make sure we have enough events for our players to play a full schedule, and we’re hoping that the ecosystem understands the value and power of inviting some of the most recognizable names in the world of golf into their events, into markets that others might not attend or travel to. It seems very obvious, for sure. You don’t have to look really too much further past the sponsor invites and where they’re going. They’re going to our players. I’m hoping that’s true.

“If that’s not the case, we’ll just build events. Simple as that.”